


Radar Love

by Hella_Meyers



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alive Laura Hale, Alpha Laura Hale, Beta Derek Hale, But this is still Beacon Hills, Comatose Peter Hale, F/F, F/M, M/M, Magical Stiles Stilinski, Mates, Meet-Cute, Sex, Sheriff Stilinski's Name is Noah, Strangers to Lovers, Werewolf Mates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-03
Updated: 2019-06-16
Packaged: 2019-07-06 10:10:37
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 28,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15883932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hella_Meyers/pseuds/Hella_Meyers
Summary: What if Derek and Laura didn't leave New York? And Derek became a long haul truck driver to get away and deal with his issues. And Stiles took a gap year to process everything and work in a diner.This is how Derek and Stiles met in a diner in the wee hours of the morning.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first foray into a full story, with chapters and everything. Wish me luck!
> 
> I'm also working on a painting of my two favorite guys ;)
> 
> I'll share when it's done!

***

 

The night seemed to drag on forever. It was that awkward time where it was technically morning, but still too early for the sun to wake. Nobody in their right mind was awake at this time. Luckily, for those crazy enough to be up to greet the sun, Beacon Hills still had a 24-hour diner. The only light around for miles was the Auntie B’s neon sign and lights streaming out of the long strip of windows that wrapped around the old diner. 

Braving the cool Northern California night air, a dark figure leapt down from the cab of an 18-wheeler. The driver landed elegantly and quietly, which was more than could be said for the closing of the cab door. 

The proximity to the preserve made the restaurant somewhat secluded on a back road. Although it ultimately fed into the nearest highway, it was not the time for traffic except from other random truckers. And the emptiness of the parking lot only further proved that.

Derek entered the diner with a jingle of the bell on the door. The restaurant was a virtual Ghost Town. The only indication that it wasn't closed were all the lights on and the young man sitting at the bar, reading the newspaper. He looked up from the paper a moment after Derek stepped in. The pleasant expression on his face faltered as he gave Derek a thorough once over. The werewolf didn't miss the alluring scents coming off the employee and fought with a wicked grin as it tried to wrestle its way onto his face. 

He certainly didn't miss how cute the diner employee was. Usually he was not so concerned with frivolous things like looks. But there was something about this particular guy. 

“Oh. Umm, hi. Welcome!” The brunette offered, nearly falling off the stool as he tried to stand up quickly. 

“You are open, right?” Derek mumbled. 

The young man scoffed, sarcastically. “What are you talking about? It's so busy in here. Let's see if we can spare a table.”

Derek snickered to himself. “You working alone tonight?”

The server got up and grabbed a menu for him. “Yep. Just me alone with my thoughts. Simultaneously peaceful and dangerous.”

That sounded familiar. 

“Same here.” Derek agreed. 

He didn't know why he was divulging personal information to this young man voluntarily. But he just felt comfortable with him. 

“Table or counter?”

Derek shrugged. “Table, I guess.”

Slipping into a nearby booth, the werewolf sat back with a relieved sigh as the server placed a menu down in the table. 

“My name is Stiles, by the way.”

“Derek.” The truck driver added awkwardly.

The server didn't seem to find it odd, soothing Derek's nerves, as he kept talking. “Just yell if you need anything. Like literally yell, it's not like you'd be disturbing anyone. And you won't bother me, sometimes I get a little stuck in my thoughts, so I need a little jolt. Oh, yea, what can I get you to drink?” 

Derek watched him fondly. A small smile on his lips. The young man, Stiles, was fascinating and adorable and kind of smoking hot, in a weird way, all at once. He had to hold his wolf back from reaching out and touching the server. Because that would just be awkward and inappropriate. The wolf didn't really have a concept of personal space and consent.

“I'll take a coffee and a water.” 

“Coming right up!” 

Stiles definitely had way more energy than anyone should logically have at 4 o’clock in the morning. But that just made Derek smile even more. 

“Hey, you like Alternative music or are you more of a classic rock guy?” Stiles shouted from behind the counter, preparing Derek's drinks. “I figured since you're the only customer, you should have control over the radio.”

Derek glanced over at his server. “I'm good with either. As long as it's not this.”

Whatever junk was playing on the overhead speakers was definitely not music. It must have been some “soft rock” station. Derek didn't pay it any mind until his attention was brought to it. He was too distracted by the first enjoyable human contact he's had in days, maybe weeks. At least since he's seen Laura. It feels like it's been a long time since he left their cozy farmhouse in the New York countryside. Laura had her mate Brandon to keep her company, which made it easier for Derek to take up truck driving. It allowed him to travel and clear his mind. It taught him to enjoy his own company again. He couldn't remember the last time he didn't actually hate himself. It felt like he might be on the upswing now. Driving cross country really put things into perspective for him. 

Stiles snorted. “I hear ya, dude. I've gotten pretty good at tuning it out. But now you've given me an excuse to change it. We're all about pleasing the customer.”

The young man winked as he headed back to the table with the drinks. He set down the glass of water and upturned the cup on its saucer, already on the table, before pouring the coffee from the decanter in his hand, then leaving the rest on the table.

Derek continued to watch him with interest. 

“There's cream and sugar over there.” Stiles pointed to the other end of the table. 

Derek shook his head. “I drink it black. But thanks.”

Stiles stood up straight and gaped at him. “A man after my own heart.”

The werewolf smiled up at the younger man. Stiles just stared at him, almost mesmerized.  
“Oh my god, you have bunny teeth.” Stiles snapped out of his trance when Derek closed his mouth self-consciously. “I'm sorry. That's just really freaking adorable. Don't mind me, I have no filter sometimes.”

Derek cleared his throat. “What do you recommend?” He offered the menu to the young man. 

“I make some killer pancakes.” Stiles beamed. “You're not a vegan, are you?”

Derek snorted. “Never.”

“Good! I'll hook you up then.” Stiles smirked playfully.

Derek definitely wanted a hook up as he watched that tight ass walk away. But he'll settle with the food for now. 

He forced himself to look away as Stiles danced to the current song. The swaying hips and pelvic thrusts went straight to his groin. A guttural growl threatened to rip past his mouth. Luckily, the young man walked back into the kitchen. The only thing he could see was his smiley face. Which only slightly improved his current situation. He scowled into his coffee, and drew his claws back as he reached for the fragile porcelain dish.

The separation helped Derek pull his wolf back enough to hold a normal human conversation again once the server returned with his food. 

“What is all this?”

Derek eyeballed the tray full of food. Stiles laid out, not only pancakes, but eggs, hash browns, and bacon.

“I figured with the shape you're in, you probably eat more than the average bear.” Stiles waggled his eyebrows. “You need the extra calories when you work out like that. Besides, whatever you don't eat, I could swipe it later.”

Derek grinned at the young man's hospitality and was greeted with the intoxicating scent of arousal coming off of him. It was obvious Stiles was a provider type, who enjoyed giving of themselves and their talents to please others. Derek held out a hand in front of him, offering the opposite booth seat to the server. 

“You don't mind?”

“No.” Derek said simply. 

“Cool.” Stiles replied, slipping into the seat. “That'll save me from him hovering awkwardly.”

Derek chuckled as he collected his silverware and debated where to dig in first. He pulled the syrup carafe over and dumped a liberal amount over his mound of pancakes.

“So, where are you from, if you don't mind my asking?”

Stiles upturned the cup on the saucer in front of him and helped himself to the personal decanter of coffee.

“I'm from here.” He replied, before shoving a forkful of pancakes into his mouth. 

“Beacon Hills? That's cool. Me too. I guess that's why you're here. I just thought you were on your way through like everyone else.”

Derek swallowed. “No. Dropped my cargo off. I'm in between jobs right now. Waiting for instructions.”

“What would you do in the meantime?”

Derek chewed thoughtfully on a strip of bacon. He noticed Stiles try to sneak his own piece. He playfully snapped his teeth at the younger man before gladly offering him one.

“Sleep. Shower. Go see my uncle.”

“Still have family here. That's nice.”

“He's… in a long term care home.”

Derek couldn't understand why he was so forthcoming with Stiles. He doesn't even remember the last time he talked to Laura this much. Stiles face turned serious after shoving the bacon in his mouth.

“I'm sorry. Is he ok?” Stiles tried to be sympathetic around a mouthful of food. 

“You didn't know. He's catatonic. Has been for years. We'll just have to see if he'll come out of it on his own.”

“Yikes.” Stiles took a sip of his coffee. “So, do you still live here? I don't remember seeing you before.”

This started to feel suspiciously like a date. Derek didn't mind though. And gauging by the cute little smiles and questions Stiles kept giving him, he didn't mind either. 

“I have a place here. But I live in New York with my sister, in the country, not the city.”

Stiles nodded thoughtfully.

“You just stop here to see him then? That's sweet. You hear horror stories about people being dumped in homes. It's so sad.”

“Family means everything to me.” Derek choked out. He quickly sipped his water to cover the emotion in his voice.

“I'm the same way.” Stiles agreed. 

The two men sat in silence for a moment. Stiles sipping his coffee and Derek eating his virtual buffet of food. It was a nice, comfortable silence. Those weren't very easy to come by when it came to Derek and socializing. He took this in with a deep contented breath. 

“You keep asking me questions. What about you?” Derek countered.

Stiles chewed his bottom lip and glanced out the large window.

“Taking a gap year to get my head sorted out. Figure out what I want to do.”

“What are you interested in?”

“I'm currently leaning toward Criminal Justice. I'm just afraid that I would get stuck here and end up a deputy. Which is fine, it's a noble profession but I want to do even more. Something to do with research.”

“You could combine all that and be a detective, FBI. Something like that. Or even Forensics if you're into that.”

“I think I'm just afraid I'll end up living my dad's life. I love him but I don't want to be him.”

“Is he a deputy?” Derek asked. 

“He's the Sheriff.” Stiles grinned, with a fond gleam in his eye. 

“Oh. I guess I'd better be careful then.” Derek smirked devilishly. 

“Not too careful, hopefully.” Stiles winked behind his coffee cup. 

Derek cleared his throat, keeping his wolf in check. 

“So, you seem to have a good grasp on what you want. What's stopping you?”

Stiles exhaled deeply as he set the cup down on the saucer. 

“Myself. The shit in my head. ADD. Depression. Anxiety. I just needed some time to get myself together. It's been a crazy few years.”

“I understand.” Derek admitted, through half a mouth of eggs and hashbrowns. He swallowed before continuing. “That's why I took this job. Travel. Spend time alone. Think. Sort it out.”

“That's a good idea.” Stiles agreed. “It's not that I don't like school. I like learning. I excel at it. I was second in my class.”

Derek hummed into his coffee. “That's impressive.”

“What about you? Did you go to college? What would you do if you weren't driving trucks?”

Derek's eyes became distant as he contemplated the question.

“Yea, I went to college. If I had my choice, I'd probably be a writer, or a translator.”

“What language?”

“Anything. I'm good at languages. I was first in my class.” Derek smirked evilly. He could smell the unique cocktail of envy, arousal, and something else. Something more subtle. He couldn't put his finger on it.

“What about Polish?

“Potrafię mówić po polsku.” Derek replied.

_[Translation: I can speak Polish.]_

Styles looked impressed but his scent radiated even more arousal. Derek shifted uncomfortably in his seat. The scent alone triggering his own arousal. His wolf delighted in pleasing the young man.

“Damn, what else?”

“Spanish, Latin, Italian, French, Russian, a bit, German, and Irish. Also a bit of Scottish Gaelic because it's similar. Working on Japanese currently.”

Stiles openly gaped at him. “You are wasted as a truck driver. Tell me something sexy in French.”

“Quelque chose de sexy en français.”

“You literally just said what I said but in French.” Stiles called him out. 

“Fermez la porte et verrouiller-la.”

“What was that?”

Derek laughed. “Shut the door and lock it.”

“I don't care what you're saying, if you keep talking like that I might take you up on that with a little.... pochyl mnie nad stołem.” 

_[Translation: bend me over the table]_

Derek tried and failed to hide the growl in his chest. Stiles’ eyes flicked down for a moment, as if he could see the wolf in the man.

“I could have been first in my class if it wasn't for Lydia.” Stiles quickly changed the subject. “Used to have the biggest crush on her too. Until I realized I lean more towards guys. But I think it was the competition. I like someone who could keep up with me. Keep me on my toes. And does she ever.”

“Friend or rival?”

“Both.” Stiles chuckled. “Always both.”

Stiles looked over the emptying plates on the table with a pleasant smile. 

“Let me get some of these out of your way.”

The young man slid out of his booth seat and stood, collecting plates. As he reached for the last plate, he knocked the water cup over, spilling it on the table and over the side. Quickly, he set the plates down on the end of the table and, leaning over Derek, grabbed some napkins from the holder against the wall.

“Sorry, sorry, sorry…” Stiles muttered as he tried to clean up after himself. 

He reached over Derek again and grabbed some more napkins. The older man relished the closeness, and his smell, although soured slightly with apology and self-doubt. Up close, he could see the small beauty marks that dotted along his cheek and jaw. His eyes followed them to see where they went down his neck and wondered where they led to under the collar of his work shirt. 

As Stiles started to pull out of Derek's personal space, the wolf grabbed his hand, wiping at the edge of the table. Honey brown eyes flicked up to meet his gaze questioningly. Once their eyes locked however, the hunger in those bright green eyes was unmistakable. Even someone as oblivious as Stiles could be, seemed to know the score. He was so lost in Stiles eyes that he almost didn't realize his grip on the young man's shoulder as well. He was effectively holding the server in place. 

When he acknowledged this with a subtle squeeze of the muscle there, Stiles shook out of whatever trance he was in and lunged forward. Derek steadied him with strong hands on the back of his neck and his side as their lips met. Stiles moved closer, his knees settling on the booth seat to bring them closer together. The young man's hands in his dark hair as their mouths worked. Derek felt an eager tongue swipe his bottom lip, and moaned into the kiss as his mouth opened. As their tongues slid together, the wolf libido cranked up another notch. Derek's left hand dropped from the server's side to his thigh and on instinct alone, he pulled Stiles up out of the booth and set him on the countertop between two of the stools. 

Stiles pried his mouth away with a delirious laugh. Derek, undeterred, followed those beauty marks with open mouthed kisses from cheek, to jaw, to neck. 

“This is like a porno, this doesn't happen in real life.” Stiles teased. 

Derek hummed as he bit along his jaw. “Doesn't it?” He mumbled into his skin. 

“Maybe to some. But not me.”

With a firm hand on Stiles back, Derek pulled them closer together as their lips met again. This time Stiles could feel the truck driver's erection against his own, and damn, it was a big one. 

“If this is a porn, what would happen next?”  
Derek asked, continuing to hold Stiles close as the younger man explored his neck with his tongue.

Stiles pulled back to gaze into those green beauties. “You'd probably take your shirt off, because you look better without it than me.”

“Wrong.” Derek growled, rocking his hips into Stiles. 

“Oh God! Then you'd bend me over a surface, pull my pants down and prepare to fuck me.”

Derek leaned back just enough to yank his shirt off before pulling Stiles into him again. 

“ _Daaaamn_!”

Stiles’ eyes surveyed the terrain of Derek's magnificent torso. A little blanket of dark hair across his impeccably toned chest and a trail of hair that ran down the center of rippled abs that led into his jeans. The two patches of hair didn't quite meet in the middle but Stiles was more than happy to bridge the gap with his tongue. 

The wolf leveled Stiles with a heated gaze as he slowly undid the buttons on his work shirt. “This isn't a porno. I want to see you.”

Once unbuttoned, Derek slid his hands over Stiles lean, lightly muscled chest and stomach. A growl rumbled in his own chest as he touched him. 

_Mine. Take. Claim._ His wolf barked at him. 

Stiles grabbed two handfuls of werewolf ass and moaned at the electricity that jolted through them where their groins met. Derek's mouth latched onto one tempting collarbone, as his fingers teased a beautiful pink nipple. Stiles whimpered and squirmed under him, effectively rutting against him further. Derek growled more audibly as he lashed the nipple with his tongue. 

“Wow! We should probably… ya know, somewhere that…. No large wall of windows….” Stiles squeaked out. 

Derek glanced behind himself out the diner's window wall, completely forgetting himself. 

“Kitchen?” Stiles suggested. 

With a simple nod, Derek stepped back and wrapped an arm around Stiles waist to pull him down from the counter. He allowed the young man to lead him back into the kitchen.

Once through the swinging door, Derek gave a cursory look at his surroundings. The stainless steel was everywhere and linoleum floor stained with age. But he was far too distracted by the sight of Stiles bent over a backpack on the floor in the corner. 

Derek pulled out his wallet and slid the square metallic condom packet from one fold before slipping the wallet back in his pocket. He approached Stiles, teasing his hand down the curve of that small bubble butt. The young man moaned at the touch. 

“Looking for something?” Derek asked, waving the condom in his face. 

“Not anymore.”

Stiles stood back up and met green wanton eyes. Without another thought, he flung his arms around Derek's neck and plied his lips with a bruising kiss. The wolf pushed him against a stainless steel workstation. He could see a very thorough sterilization in the surface's future. 

Derek pulled back to work at unfastening Stiles khakis. “What about…” Derek mumbled into Stiles neck. 

The young reached behind himself, pushing Derek's face away. He plunked a squeeze bottle onto the counter close to them. 

“Olive oil is an excellent substitute for a personal lubricant.”

Taking the opportunity of the separation, Stiles went to work undoing Derek's jeans. He pulled jeans and briefs down just enough and knelt down before Derek could have a coherent thought. 

“Stiles…” Derek tried. But it was no use. Now that Stiles had dick in hand, he had trouble making words. The young man amused that his long fingers barely met wrapped around the shaft. 

“Damn, you are big.”Stiles commented before tentatively slipping him into his mouth.  
Derek's hands tangled into brown hair as Stiles slowly sucked on him, easing his mouth over the length to get used to it. 

“Stiles.” Derek growled as he hit the back of his throat. He was soaring heavenward at the young man's ministrations. Looking down, he watched himself slide into that tantalizing mouth and it triggered primal urges that he tried to quelch to protect his human. 

_His human?_

He caught sight of Stiles gazing up at him through long lashes. And he hasn't realized he had done anything until Stiles eased off of him with a popping sound and gaped up at him. 

“You're a werewolf.” 

It wasn't a question. Oh God, he knew. 

“How do you…”

Stiles stood up immediately and his eyes flashed a deep, royal purple. 

“You have a Spark. That's what I smelled.”

Stiles grabbed the condom Derek still held in his hand and slapped it on the metal counter. “We won't be needing this.” He said with a wicked grin. 

“But how do you…”

“This is Beacon Hills. You should understand.”

Derek shrugged. He was right, after all.

Stiles brought him out of his confusion as he continued to undo his own pants. The werewolf slapped his hands away and proceeded to do the work himself. He needed to feel Stiles dick in his hand, in his mouth, all over him. Once he yanked his pants and boxers down to his thighs, Derek marveled at the feel of the young man in his hand. It felt so…. right. So appropriate. Like his penis was made for his hand to hold. It just fit.

His thoughts cut off by Stiles beautiful mewling and a warm slide of lips against his own. 

“I need you inside me.” Stiles purred as Derek palmed his cock. 

Flipping his brain to autopilot, Derek spun Stiles around and bent him over metal surface. He ripped the unbuttoned work shirt off of Stiles back and out of his way. Tossing it carelessly to the floor. He squeezed those beautiful cheeks and separated them to see the rosy pink hole. He kept himself from leaning down and mouthing the younger man to completion. Neither one of them wanted that right now. They could save that for later. 

_Later?_

Derek shook his head. He's already making plans for someone who he may never see again. A one night stand.

“Please Derek. I need it.” Stiles moaned over his shoulder. 

Who was he to deny his mate? He would deal with all of that later. 

Derek quickly grabbed the bottle of oil and squeezed some into his fingers. He took his time rubbing around the pretty hole and then eased one finger in. Stiles sighed as the first finger worked all the way in. 

He worked diligently to prep him. Three fingers deep, he was pulling beautiful, clipped noises out of Stiles. He had to restrain his wolf from removing his fingers and driving deep into Stiles with one strong shove. He refused to hurt him. But perhaps he was being too cautious, when Stiles turned to look at him over his shoulder. 

“I can hear you thinking too much. I'm ok. Please just give it to me already. I want it.”

With his free hand, Derek squeezed some oil into his cock and stroked himself to get it covered. As he lined the head up to the hole, he slowly removed his fingers, using them to help ease his way in. The head entered with little issue. Stiles moaned and the wolf inside preened, wagging his tail. As he slowly started his descent, Stiles gave some resistance. 

Derek leaned over the younger man and whispered to him. 

“Relax, baby. I'll take care of you. Just let me in.”

“Ok, big bad. Show this little pig what you got.” Stiles grunted as Derek slipped in just a fraction more. 

With the little territory Derek claimed, he slowly pushed himself in and out to help ease the tension. Although Stiles didn't act like a virgin, he certainly was delightfully tight. And he had to stop himself from coming too quickly. 

Once he was in as far as he would go, he stayed there for a moment reveling in the tight squeeze. “God, you feel so good, baby.”

“Take me to heaven, Sexywolf” Stiles teased.”

The initial slide and push back in was beyond words. But not beyond sound. Stiles unabashed moans mixed with Derek’s growling grunts and it was the best music he ever heard. 

Derek bent over Stiles body and began to lick and suck and bite at his neck as he thrust into him with abandon. He could feel his own end impending and the way Stiles was keening, he knew he wouldn't be long either. 

“God! Derek, I'm gonna….”

Derek reached under his wonderfully pale body and stroked Stiles to his end. Stiles painted Derek's hand with come as he sang his release. The werewolf howled as Stiles muscles tightened around him and caused him to fill the young man with his own seed. 

Collapsing over Stiles prone body, they caught their breath and came back down to Earth. Derek licked the come from his hand, relishing the taste, as they rested against the food prep station. Stiles caught sight of him in his peripheral vision and smiled so wide that he feared his face might crack. 

“Amazing.” Stiles panted. 

Derek responded by planting little chaste kisses over the back of his neck, across his shoulders, and down his spine before slowly and carefully extracting himself. 

Stiles turned toward Derek, wincing at the new ache. A pleasant memory. Derek caged him against the counter, between his hands, as he leaned in and took long drags of his post-coital scent. The werewolf nearly making himself hard again. 

“You should, like, never wear clothes. It should be illegal.” Stiles joked. “That's it. I'll just have to go into Criminal justice just so I can make that a law. Derek should never be clothed in Stiles’ presence.”

Derek chuckled as he leaned down and helped Stiles pull up his pants and underwear. He kissed the young man long and deep and they worked together to fasten him up again. 

The werewolf picked up the discarded shirt and handed it to Stiles. 

He felt Stiles eyes on him as he pulled up his own pants and began to button and zip them. 

“So, you want my number?” Stiles asked with a hint of anxiety. “Ya know, lonely on the road and all.”

Derek stood back and gazed at Stiles. A smirk playing at his lips as he pulled his cell from his pocket. He slid the small device into Stiles hand. The young man looked down at it with trepidation. 

“What kind of dinosaur is this? What century is this from?”

Derek rolled his eyes. “That's all I need.”

Stiles examined the ancient communication device, flipping the top open and closed with an exaggerated grimace. Before opening it and tapping at the buttons. He pulled his cell phone from his front pocket and handed it to Derek as he pecked away at the aging device. 

Derek looked at it skeptically. 

“Do you know how to use that, grandpa?” Stiles teased. 

The wolf rolled his eyes again before adding his contact information. 

Once Stiles finished, he watched Derek. 

“The problem with this ancient technology, you'll have to use your imagination.” Stiles voice seemed to wink at him. “With something like mine, you could have a more… visual experience.”

Derek stopped suddenly and glanced up at the younger man. 

“Don't get me wrong, the voice is…” Stiles shivered in lieu on an explanation. “But visual evidence, is the cherry on top of the sundae.”

Derek smirked at the younger man as he bit his lip. He passed the smartphone back to him. 

“I just… I don't know. I would like this to be more than a one time thing. It was… mind blowing, and I like talking to you. So I guess, yea, I'd definitely want to see you again.”

Derek could feel the anxiety coming off of him as well as smell it.

“Stiles, I did just give you my number.”

Stiles tapped away on his phone and a chime went off in Derek's pocket. 

Smiling, Derek pulled the phone out and flipped it open. 

**Magic Man: In my defense, I warned you that I had no filter.**

Derek chucked. “Yes, you did.”

They walked back to the front of the diner. Derek collected his shirt and yanked it over his head as he watched Stiles button his own. He turned back to the mess they left on the table and noticed the first hint of sun coming up, throwing shades of pink into the sky. 

Derek twisted around and pulled Stiles over to him. He slung his arm around the young man's shoulders as they pressed together. They both watched silently as the sun slowly rose into the trees, scattering rays of yellow and orange light into the pink sky.

“Not every day you get to see the beauty of the sunrise.” Derek commented. 

“True. I work nights but I rarely take the time to actually watch it.” Stiles hummed alongside him. 

Derek glanced over at the beautiful young man and placed a sweet kiss on his temple before extricating himself. 

“Unfortunately, I have to go. I need to get some sleep before I head back out on the next journey.”

He smelled Stiles scent grow sad. A mixture of salt water, syrup, and melted ice cream. 

Derek pulled his wallet out again and slipped a crisp 50 dollar bill out of the fold. He crumpled it into Stiles hand and closed his fingers around it making it into a first. When he moved his hands away, Stiles opened his fist and gasped at the amount. 

“No, you can't. It's not even half that.”

Derek put his hands up. “You can't be making that much spending your gap year at a diner. Let someone do something nice for you.”

Stiles huffed but didn't argue. 

“I'll talk to you soon, Stiles.”

Derek learned in and slid a tender kiss across Stiles lips before pulling back and making his exit. 

As Stiles forlornly watched Derek walk out into the parking lot, he jumped at the sound of a message. Stiles fished his phone out of his pocket. 

**Sexywolf: I'll let you know when I get my new cell phone ;)**

Stiles smirked to himself and first pumped the air. 

As he moved to clean up the plates, his phone chimed again.

**Sexywolf: I saw that! Good morning, magic man!**

**Magic Man: It is a good morning, Sexywolf :)**

 

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The translations were Googled, so they may not be 100% which upsets me if they are. Let me know if they're wrong and I'll happily fix them. 
> 
> Your comments are like water and sunshine, helping this little flower blossom. Leave me pretty words ❤


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ~ His mind played back what felt like a dream. Derek. The golden god of a truck driver. The way he thrust himself relentlessly into Stiles now aching body. And the sweet moment they spent watching the sunrise together. He couldn't help the beaming smile as he remembered every detail of the best morning he's ever had, ever. ~

“Stiles!”

The creature roused underneath several layers of warm, soft comfort. Slowly consciousness began to set in. Small grunting noises came from its chest as it awakened. Blinking back the light of the bright afternoon sun. 

_No._

“Come on, son. Lydia is here.”

That woke the creature out of the last remnants of sleep. 

“Why…” 

Stiles whined groggily. 

“You try telling her no.” The Sheriff argued through the door. 

He cleared the frog in his throat and looked around for something but not quite sure what that something was. Clothes, a clock, a calendar, his brain. Who knows. 

Before he had any time to prepare himself, a petite, strawberry blonde menace barged into his room with the steady incessant clicking of high heels. She plopped herself unceremoniously on the edge of the bed as Stiles wiped a hand down his face. Jade green eyes surveyed him in a clinical manner, as if he were a science experiment instead of… well, he wasn't quite sure how to categorize himself, so maybe he was a science experiment. The universe's sick joke. 

“Are you hungover? What are you doing still in bed?” Lydia inquired as she twirled one ginger curl around her finger. 

Stiles dropped his head back to the pillow. He hoped he could get another hour of sleep but he was defeated. Maybe she could be fobbed off on the phone. But once she's there in person, there's no chance of doing anything but what she says. Now he can only hope to buy himself some time to shower and get dressed. 

“I worked graveyard shift at the diner. Leave me alone, woman.” Stiles croaked. 

Lydia hummed, taking in the information. “Well, it's 2 o'clock, Stiles is time to get out of bed and help me with the tracking spell.”

Stiles groaned. He almost forgot about that. Why was he always making promises that he wasn't sure he could keep? 

Because he's a pushover for friends with a sad story. Yep, nail on head. 

“Could you give me time to get up and dressed? If you don't want to wait, you could spend some time doing something useful like bringing me coffee, especially since you're pulling me out of bed.”

She looked affronted by the suggestion. “I'm not going to make you coffee. We can stop on the way to the library. Hurry up.”

Stiles resigned himself to sit up but was immediately reminded of his early morning activities. He grimaced at the burning ache. His mind played back what felt like a dream. Derek. The golden god of a truck driver. The way he thrust himself relentlessly into Stiles now aching body. And the sweet moment they spent watching the sunrise together. He couldn't help the beaming smile as he remembered every detail of the best morning he's ever had, ever. 

He was broken from his reverie by a sharp gasp. Stiles jerked his head up and saw Lydia’s wicked smile. “Mieczysław James Stilinski, you had sex!”

Stiles eyes bugged out of his head. “No,no,no we are not talking about this. And I really resent the fact that you discovered my name. I wish you wouldn't use it. Like ever.”

“Oh, you've had sex. And it's not with someone we know…” Her eyes lit up even more. “Did you have a one night stand?”

Stiles groaned and fell back to the bed, throwing the comforter over his head. 

“Ok. I'll stop just get up. We really need to go and tackle this spell.”

Lydia waited but Stiles did not resurface. 

“You promised Malia you would do this.” She reminded, pulling at the comforter. 

“Lydia, stop.” Stiles tugged back at the covers. “Stop, please! I'm naked!”

The red head let go immediately holding her hands up in defeat. 

“You totally had sex.” She smirked. “I'm going to wait in the hallway while you get showered and dressed. And if you don't come out of here within 15 minutes, I'm coming back in whether you're clothed or not.”

Stiles growled in frustration. “What are you doing here anyway? You never come to my house.”

“Try checking your messages.” Lydia tossed over her shoulder as she sauntered out of the room. “15 minutes. Tick tock.”

And with a snick of the door, she was gone. For now. 

Stiles let out an exaggerated sigh as he rolled himself out of the bed. He flinched at the cold floor under his bare feet. Unplugging his cell phone from the charger on the nightstand, he began to scroll through his messages as he headed for his wardrobe to pick out clothes. 

He stopped in his tracks as he found a stray message in a sea of Lydia’s texts and missed calls, and social media notifications. A smile slid across his face at the sight of the name. He had to open that one first. 

**Sexywolf: Hey, got my new phone. I think I know how to use this. Might need some help.**

Stiles’ stomach did a happy little flip. His fingers went to work before he could possibly overthink anything. 

**Magic Man: Congrats on entering the 21st century, old man. Now you just have to download WhatsApp.**

**Magic Man: But I'll need coffee before I could possibly explain that coherently.**

**Sexywolf: I'll figure it out. Text me after coffee.**

Stiles thought he might need a chisel to pry the smile off his face. It may be permanent at this point. 

He tossed his phone on the bed and happily stretched his arms up in the air. He grabbed a couple random articles of clothes and headed for the bathroom. This day was just getting better and better. 

***

At Beacon Hills Public Library, Lydia dragged Stiles into one of the private meeting rooms and piled the table, in the middle of the room, full of research books and a couple, ancient leather bound journals that she probably borrowed from Deaton. Stiles learned back in his chair as he sipped happily at his coffee, texting random photos of his coffee cup, and books on a shelf, to Derek. He absently gazed from the laptop in front of him to Lydia silently translating one of the texts into her notebook. 

“How did you get one of these rooms anyway? They're usually set aside for teachers or community meetings or something.” Stiles asked as his fingers danced along the edge of one of the Druid’s books. 

Lydia answered without looking up. “I told them I was tutoring you.”

Stiles gaped at her, affronted by the mere suggestion that she could possibly be his tutor. 

“Close your mouth. I could run mental circles around you.”

“You might've been first in the class, but I was second, sweetheart. You're not that much smarter than me. We just… have different…. areas of expertise.”

Lydia muttered. “Whatever helps you sleep at night.”

Stiles chuckled humorlessly, snapping his laptop closed and getting up from the table. “I see. Then if I'm so useless, why am I here? You can do this all by yourself.”

Lydia slammed her hand down on the notebook as she snapped get head up. “You know I can't. Now sit down.”

“I'm not a fucking child, Lydia. You can't boss me around. And paint me surprised. The great and powerful Lydia can't do something by herself. Pray tell me why?”

Stiles stood just a foot from the door, hand itching to reach for the metal door handle, awaiting her response as she fumed over the table. 

“Because I don't have a Spark of magic to make this spell work properly.”

A smirk slid across Stiles’ face. “What are you saying, Lydia? That you need me? That i'm integral to the success of this mission?”

“You know that you are, Stiles, quit acting like a spoiled child threatening to take their toys away.”

Stiles scoffed. “Me? Spoiled? What I'm acting like is someone who isn't shown or treated with respect for their abilities and talents. I think we've all been through enough shit together that we could at least give each other that. I'm tired of being the pack punching bag”

Lydia reluctantly inclined her head towards him and glanced up, meeting his eyes.  
“I'm sorry.”

Her gaze was steady and her words sincere. This startled Stiles. But instead of reaching into his brain for a sarcastic remark, as he normally would. He bit his tongue and decided it was time to move forward. 

Rubbing the back of his neck, he stepped towards the desk. “Thank you. Now can we get to the love part of our little love/hate thing?”

The young woman snickered. “As long as you don't revert back to your old ways.”

Stiles sank back into his chair. “Not gonna happen, especially with Mr. Sex on Legs banging at my back door.” He clicked his tongue and shot finger guns at her. 

Lydia pulled a face as she sat back down at the table. “Are you making reference to anal sex?”

“Maaaayybeeee.”

“Don't ever say that again.” She admonished him. 

Getting back to business, Stiles leaned forward to track Lydia’s progress on the translation.

“That can't be right. Ancient Greek spells read like poetry with a rhythm and a rhyme. This has no structure.” Stiles pointed out.

Lydia glared at him through her lashes. “I know Greek.”

“And I know magic.”

She huffed and looked back over the translation and the original text. “Maybe. This could have another meaning.”

“Ah, teamwork. It's a beautiful thing.” Stiles teased as they began to fall back into a natural rhythm. 

***

The initial walk through the hallways was always the worst. When the smell was so potent because it was not something one was usually accustomed to in their daily lives. And given Derek's hypersensitivity to smell, it was even worse. 

Depression, loneliness, desperation, nostalgia, and the chemical smell that poorly covered the essence of feces and death. These are the atrocious scents that attack Derek's wolf senses when he enters Beacon Hospice Care Center. 

He figured it was a small price to pay to a family member who was worse off than himself. But he couldn't help but think if Peter Hale was cognizant enough, despite the catatonia, it was much more unbearable for him having to smell it and be mired in it constantly. But given the absence of chemo-signals coming off of his uncle, he probably isn't aware of very much, if anything, going on around him. 

Derek sat quietly for a moment, surveying the motionless shell of his uncle. He checked for any changes, any hint that he was progressing in some way, positive or negative. Although seeing him in this state broke his heart, he couldn't bring himself to stop coming. He felt that it was the least he could do, given everything. 

Peter’s face and neck were still marred with burn scars. Maybe just slightly better than the last visit. But Derek suspected that by keeping himself in this state, Peter was also inhibiting his healing abilities. 

Whether he was aware of his visits or not, Derek still came and gave him updates on everything. If anything he found it incredibly therapeutic for himself to get stuff off his chest without the threat of judgement. Which was ironic since that was his uncle's stock and trade when he was… awake. 

“So, Laura and Brandon completed their mating with a nice little ceremony. Wish you could've been there. I wish everyone could have been there.” Derek finished morosely.

He paced in front of the windows, where he had wheeled Peter, to give him a change of scenery if he cared to look with his pale blue vacant eyes. 

“Driving the truck is helping. It's giving me time to think and process. I'm not as hard on myself anymore. Although I'm not completely blameless. I still have the nagging feeling like I could've prevented it if I had just… I don't know, listened to my wolf. The signs. If I paid any attention at all.”

Derek took a deep breath but continued to pace. 

“I recently did something. I can't bring myself to regret it. On the surface, it may seem impulsive and ill-timed. But I saw something I wanted and ran with it. I know that got us in trouble in the past, but this feels…” Derek took a calming breath. A small smile transformed his previous scowl. “Feels so right.”

Derek slowed his pacing as his mind raced over his morning escapades. Stiles. The beautiful, intelligent, persistent enigma that was Stiles. He wanted him. 

“I want him. I've never been so sure of anything else in my life. I'm not sure how but he got under my skin and I don't think I'll ever get enough of him.”

Finally, he stopped and glanced up at Peter. He could swear the catatonic man was smirking slightly. That was, actually, his usual expression. Much like a scowl became Derek's. 

He could only hope that maybe his talking therapy sessions with Uncle Peter were helping the older man as well.

Before leaving, Derek placed a hand on the man's shoulder and leaned in to speak into his ear. “I wish that one day we could have these conversations with you responding. I'll even endure your signature snark, old man.” Derek joked.

 

***

Stiles flopped onto his bed, feeling mentally exhausted from his day with Lydia. Luckily he didn't have a shift at the dinner or he'd never make it. As he started making himself comfortable, his phone chimed. He squinted his eyes at the unfamiliar tone and reached for the device where he left it on his nightstand. 

When he opened the lock screen, he saw that he had a notification from WhatsApp. Recognition slowly crept in and he opened the app. He clicked on the message left by Derek Hale with no profile picture.

**Derek: One of my colleagues helped me upload the app. Apparently this is a favorite amongst truck drivers.”**

_Yea, horny truck drivers._ Stiles thought.

**Stiles: We need to get you a profile photo.  
Stiles: I see your online. Are you able to chat?**

He hoped to any God that would listen that he was. 

Then he was typing…

**Derek: Yea, I just stopped for the night. How do i do this?**

**Stiles: I'm gonna send you a request, like i'm calling you. Just accept it.**

He waited until the check popped up to notify him the message was read before he started the call. It took a moment to connect. Thankfully Derek wasn't too hopeless with technology and answered fairly quickly. 

The beautiful werewolf looked surprised to see Stiles. He adjusted the phone in his hand to show himself better in frame. Finally glancing at Stiles image he smiled. The younger man noticed his whole face seemed to be smiling ever since Derek answered the call. 

“Hi. I didn't realize you were doing a video call.” Derek said. 

“I could tell. Do you need a moment to put your face on?” Stiles teased. 

“Shut up.”

Stiles smiled even more, if that was possible. 

“Where are you?” Stiles asked. 

“My truck cab. Just barely in Wyoming.”  
Derek leaned back, throwing one arm back behind his head like a pillow. 

“I've never been there.”

“You're not missing anything. It’s boring here.”

“So, you have like your own bunk in your truck? That's convenient.”

“Want a tour?”

Stiles nodded emphatically.

Derek moved his phone away from his face to Stiles dismay and made a wide arc of the cabin to show him what it looked like. He could make out the front of the cab, steering wheel, and all manner of controls. Which looked daunting and confusing. Glad that he didn't have to operate it.

“So you can just park anywhere and go to sleep?”

Derek brought the phone back to his face and his eyebrows twitched in what appeared to be their own answer.

“No. Some places allow it, some don't. Truck stops, rest stops, some parking lots. You tend to figure out quickly who does and doesn't allow it.”

Stiles talked for a bit. He mentioned how he stood up to Lydia and what that meant for him to actually stand up for himself. He was getting too old to let his friends push him around anymore. 

Derek congratulated him. 

“I know that's a big step. It's not easy when you feel like you deserve it. We don't deserve it, especially not from those who are meant to be our friends.” Derek said. 

“I'm glad that I was able to get through to her. She figured out that I had sex and I'll need someone in the know to talk to about you.” Stiles teased. 

Derek blinked. “How did she figure that out? She's not a wolf too, is she?”

“Nope. Not a wolf. Incredibly, frustratingly perceptive. She stormed into my room and woke me this morning. Nearly had an incident because I was naked under the covers.”

Derek growled just loud enough for Stiles to hear it and blush.

“You sleep naked?” Derek purred.

Oh, Stiles had him right where he wanted him. 

“Sometimes.”

“I usually do but it's apparently frowned upon when you're technically sleeping at work.”

It was Stiles turn to purr now. “I can imagine you sleeping naked.”

“I'm not a big fan of clothes all the time. But humans and their modesty. I don't get it.”

Stiles grunted at the mental image of Derek naked. 

“If you walked around naked, nobody would get any work done. You're too much of a distraction.”

Derek rolled his eyes. 

“I was really tired before but now talking to you, I feel… energized somehow.” The older man admitted. 

Stiles smirked devilishly. 

“Oh, I have that effect on people sometimes. Is it more like a cup of coffee, or like main-lining coke. Because let me tell ya when my ADHD is really acting up, it's more like the coke.”

Derek chuckled. “More like a nice spot of English tea on a rainy morning.”

“Awww, all warm and fuzzy. You should be a writer.”

“That's the idea.” Derek teased.

The two men continued talking about their days and sharing personal stories. Derek finally started rubbing his eyes and Stiles knew that the man was going to need his sleep and soon. He didn't want the wolf to be driving with sleep deprivation.

“Hey, I know a great way to get yourself tired enough to sleep.” Stiles waggled his eyebrows at him. 

Derek's gaze turned heated. “Do you now?”

“It involves taking your shirt off. It looks kinda stuffy in that truck, big guy.”

The werewolf arched one expressive brow, before maneuvering his phone away. With both hands free and a nice far away view, Stiles watched carefully as Derek pulled his henley up and over his head slowly. The younger man groaned at the sight on his phone, wishing he was there with him. 

“That will never get old.” Stiles licked his lips.

“You're turn.”

The younger man bit his lip. Hesitant as his eyes darted around the room, trying to find a good position for his phone. 

“Don't leave me hanging. I need to see you.” Derek urged.

Stiles settled the phone between his bent up knees and sat up to remove his shirt. He struggled a bit, knocking the phone onto the bed. 

“Oh shit..”

Derek laughed out loud at the scene before him. Stiles grabbed the phone and righted it so he was in frame again. 

“Real sexy, huh?” Stiles huffed.

“Oh, baby, you're fucking adorable.” 

Stiles gaped at Derek's sweet confession and the beautiful, blinding white smile on his impossibly handsome face. He was sure that the man may think that now but he'll find his quirks as annoying as everyone else does soon enough. 

“So, are you…” Stiles began self-consciously.

Derek scoffed. “I've been hard since you first started flirting with me. 

Brown eyes bugged out, surprised at the older man's candor. 

“Um… yea, me too.” Stiles admitted. “Let me see.” 

Derek tilted his phone downward to the prominent bulge between his legs. From the angle, his whole face was no longer visible. But his scruffy chin and banging body were in frame. So it wasn't a total loss.

“I want to bite those cute nipples.” Derek grunted as he stroked a hand over his tented jeans. 

“Would you pull my hair?” Stiles asked. 

“If you suck my dick, like a good boy.” Derek growled.

Stiles whined. 

“You're not starting without me, are you?”

Derek tilted his screen up and saw that Stiles had himself in hand already. He clicked his tongue in disapproval at the younger man. 

“Couldn't help myself.” Stiles breathed. “Let me see you, big guy.”

Derek unbuttoned his jeans and slowly undid the fly. Stiles waited on bated breath as the werewolf traced his own cock through his underwear.

“God, you're even a tease from a thousand miles away.”

“That's what you get for starting without me.”

Stiles almost came just at the sight of Derek finally taking himself in his hand and lazily jerking off. They watched each other as worked towards their orgasms.

“Next time, I want to take my time with you. Get you all worked up.” Derek promised. “Bite you and watch your skin turn pink.” 

They grunted as they thrust into their own fists. 

“Where would you bite me? Other than my nipples.” Stiles prompted. 

“The nape of your neck.” Derek punctuated his words with a downward stroke. “Your collarbone. Your ass. That beautiful tender spot on your thigh right near your cock.”

As if on cue, Stiles came hard at the mention of his cock. 

“Oh, Derek! Oh god…”

“Yea, baby, moan for me.”

Stiles let out a content little moan as he rode out the high of his orgasm. The sound pushing Derek over the edge. He grunted out his release as Stiles watched him shoot over his stomach and up to his chest. He found his distance fairly impressive. 

“I wish I could be there to lick you clean.” Derek hummed.

The werewolf learned over and grabbed a pack of tissues to clean up with. 

Stiles whined needily. “That's so hot.”

Derek chuckled. “I think I'll be able to get to sleep now. You wrecked me.”

Stiles preened at the compliment. 

“I'd hate to let you go but I know you're probably exhausted.” The young man griped. “I don't want to keep you up.”

“This was amazing, Stiles. Thank you for making me get a new phone.”

Derek pulled the phone up closer to his face and Stiles repeated the action. 

“I'll talk to you soon, Magic Man.” Derek purred sleepily.

Stiles grinned ear to ear. “Goodnight, and drive safe, big guy.”

Before the feed cut, Derek brought the phone closer to his face and gave an air kiss to his lover. 

Stiles gaped at his phone well after the call ended. He couldn't quite wrap his head around what he just did. But he really hoped that they continue this for a long, long time. 

Now he just needed to clean up and get some sleep. If he could just stop replaying this unbelievable moment in his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts? 
> 
> I'm personally a fan of Derek talking through his issues with Peter. Maybe if he had done that he wouldn't have been such a Sourwolf.
> 
> Leave me lovely comments ❤


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a long time coming but just think of it like a Christmas present :)
> 
> I do have an outline of all the remaining chapters sorted, but that doesn't really mean anything. Lol
> 
> I'll get to more when I can. Enjoy!

****

 

The sound of freshly fallen snow, crunching under foot, the chilly whip of the air, and all the smells of pine, chimney smoke, frozen earth and woods, assailed Derek’s senses. It was good to be home. Even as small as their family was now, he had finally embraced The Farmhouse in New York, his sister and her mate. Although he lost so much, he decided to start to look at the positive and relish all the wonderful things he still had, no matter how great or small. The house was fairly big for their humble pack, but it gave them room to roam, room to grow. It was originally a barn, converted to a house by distant Hale relations that sold the house to them; happy to keep it in the family.

Strolling down the stone walkway that led into the house, ice melt strewn across the path. It amused Derek. Such a human gesture, no doubt a product of Brandon's human upbringing still lingering in the bitten wolf. He felt fondness blossom in his chest. 

After scraping his booted feet on the welcome mat, he opened the door and walked right into a big hug from Laura. There was no doubt in his mind that she had been aware of his presence, probably a mile down the road. So familiar with the sound of the hand-me-down Camaro. But he didn't expect such a warm welcome. Laura had made a lot of progress emotionally, and meeting her mate helped everything click for her. Derek still wasn't used to this affection practiced on him. It had been many years since they had this level of intimacy. He was still trying to get used to it again.

“I'm glad to have you home, little brother.” She said, as she pulled back from their embrace. 

Derek smiled at her apprehensively. “It's only been a week, Laur.”

“You should see how she greets me after only a day apart.”

A melodic baritone boomed around the corner before Brandon Magnusson Hale stepped into sight. All 6 feet and 3 inches of lean muscled, bearded, blond, smiley werewolf. His long, wavy hair pulled up into a messy bun on the top of his head. Brandon reached his arm out and Derek took it. Hands clasping forearms in their own brotherly handshake. Brandon brought up his other hand and slipped it along the side of Derek's neck that Laura didn't already scent. Ever since he and Laura solidified their mating bond with the traditional ceremony, the Alpha's mate had been as keen as the Alpha to get his scent on the pack members. Which was pretty much only Derek.

“I'd rather not.” Derek wrinkled his eyebrows.

“Welcome home, brother. Just in time for dinner. I'm finishing up now.” 

With that announcement, Brandon loped back to where he came and Derek was faced with his sister again. 

She smiled at him brightly. Her chocolate eyed gaze sparkly and happy. “You seem… lighter.”

Derek cleared his throat. Turning from her, he shucked his jacket and hung it on the coat rack by the door. 

“It was a good week.”

Derek realized that was the understatement of the century, but he knew it wouldn't read as a lie. He wasn't sure if you wanted to unpack this baggage on his Alpha just yet.

“Hmm.” Laura hummed, not convinced but resigned not to pry. “I'm glad to hear it.”

Derek sat and chanced a glimpse of her as he removed his boots, plopping them on the mud mat tucked under the entryway bench seat.

Her eyes held no judgement. And for that, he was eternally grateful. 

“What's for dinner?” He changed the subject. 

Laura snickered. “Can't you smell it?”

Derek paused, still seated on the bench. He made a show of tipping his chin up a bit and scented the air.

“Steak and… baked potatoes, no... sweet potatoes. You knew I was coming.”

Laura smirked at him. “I had a feeling.”

Derek got up and, wrapping an arm around his sister’s shoulders, walked them through the living room and into the dining room.

Laura took a seat at the head of the table and Derek pulled up on her left. 

“I chopped some more wood so we can have a nice fire later.” Brandon said as he walked into the room. An oblong glass dish with the steaks inside, hoisted in his hands, set neatly on the table. 

“Do you need any help, love?” Laura offered. 

“Nothing I can't handle.” Brandon gave her a small smile and kissed the top of her head before retreating back into the kitchen for the rest of their dinner. 

“So, basically he cooked dinner and you sat here looking pretty.” Derek teased. 

Laura gaped at him in mock offense. “I'll have you know I made the salad and set the table.”

“And made the sangria.” Brandon added, nodding to the pitcher of purple liquid on the table, as he brought in the salad bowl and dish of baked sweet potatoes. 

Although they couldn't get drunk, Laura still liked the taste of red wine. And honestly, her sangria was incredibly tasty.

Once they were all seated, Laura helped Derek plate up his food, then helped Brandon before serving herself. She was a good Alpha. And she will be, Derek thought, a great mother as well. 

“Did you get a chance to visit Peter?” Laura asked him as they began eating. 

Derek savored and swallowed a succulent piece of steak before responding.  
“Yea. It doesn't seem like much has changed. His scars look fractionally better. But sometimes it's hard to tell.”

Laura took a moment to process the information. Her scent turned complex and her eyes introspective. “He's still alive, so there is still hope.”

“It's been 9 years, Laur.” Derek resisted the urge to drop his silverware on his plate. A temper tantrum wouldn't solve anything though. 

“There's something that can be done. Perhaps he hasn't had the right stimulus. Something is keeping him in that state, so we just need to find the right something to bring him back.” Laura, smelling Derek's upset, placed a calming hand over his wrist. “I will never give up on my pack.”

Derek glanced up at her. Eyes glowing bright red. He sensed her determination and his own eyes flashed blue in response. “Of course, Alpha.”

The pack continued eating with a comfortable silence before conversation picked up again easily. 

“What else did you get up to in your travels?” Brandon asked. 

His mind drifted to a sly smirk on perfect pink lips. Creamy pale skin under his fingers. The flutter of long eyelashes on blushing cheeks. And his cock disappearing into a warm, inviting hole. 

Derek didn't realize the small, private smile on his face until he looked up and two wolves gazed wide eyed at him. He reached for his glass to take a sip of sangria to give him time to find his words. 

“I made a friend.” He finally said. 

Brandon's snicker turned into a choked groaning sound as he supposed Laura might have kicked his shin under the table. 

“That's nice. Tell us about them.” Laura prompted. 

Derek paused to eat and gather his thoughts. “He works at that diner in Beacon Hills. Do you remember that place? The one mom and dad took us to sometimes for our Friday Family night out.”

It took a long time, but now they were both able to talk about their fallen family members without any major emotional breakdowns. He wasn't sure when it finally happened. It wasn't like, one day it was suddenly okay. Some days they still struggled but it was significantly easier to manage now. This was only thanks to the amount of work they both put into their healing. Derek will always be grateful to his sister and Alpha for her help and patience that grew their bond even stronger than it had ever been. 

“I loved that place. I almost always ordered breakfast because they had the best pancakes. Even better than dad's.” Laura mused.

Derek smiled. “Well, I think he makes them even better than I remember. It was a really odd hour right before sunrise, he was the only one there so he made me breakfast and we talked. It was really nice.”

He tucked into the food again and prayed they didn't ask any other questions. 

“A friend in Beacon Hills. That’s good. So you won't feel too lonely when you stop there while you're on the road.” Laura replied. “Have you kept in touch since you left?”

Derek speared another sweet potato from the platter. 

“Yea, I have his number. We talk.”

Laura continued eating. Her scent gone happy and content. 

“I was thinking, maybe now we're in the right place to expand the pack. What are your thoughts?”

Derek glanced at his sister before tending to the sweet potato on his plate. 

“If you think that's the right decision, I support it. You've always done what was best for us. I trust you.”

He didn't have to look up to know that his sister's eyes were misted over. That she was brimming with happiness, with just a tinge of sadness at the edges. And Brandon made that smell exponentially stronger by mirroring her emotions. Derek wondered absently if Laura had just asked how he felt about being an uncle. 

“Hey Der, wanna play some COD after we clean up?” Brandon offered. 

Derek looked up at his brother-in-law. “So eager for me to wipe the floor with you again?” He teased. 

“We'll see about that.” The blond challenged him.

 

***

 

Stiles cursed under his breath as another branch swatted him in the face. How does he keep missing all these low hanging branches? And all those poorly positioned tree roots. Who put those there?

Over the years, with the development of his spark, he's matured a bit, and grown more into his body. But he still had remnants of his old clumsy self. Luckily Scott was around to grab him before he tripped over another obstacle. 

“It's unfortunate that Stiles has to lead the way. Since he still can't walk a straight line without losing his balance.” Malia snarked.

Stiles glared at the werecoyote before turning back around and walking through the clearing to the Nemeton. 

“If you're gonna be a jerk, I could just take this little light of mine and go home.” Stiles replied. “I don't have to be here.”

Scott interrupted, holding hands up between the two, placating them. “Come on, guys. This isn't helping. Malia, I know you're anxious but don't take it out on Stiles. He's just trying to help.”

“This is why we wanted to do this alone.” Lydia reminded their Alpha. 

“If you thought you could keep me out of this, you're sorely mistaken. I'm not gonna sit by and let someone else find my parents for me.” Malia fumed. 

The redhead opened her mouth to rebut.

“Lydia!” Stiles called out, taking a seat on the great big tree stump. “I need you to focus. And I need everybody else to shut up.”

Stiles closed his eyes to hone in on his spark to connect it and charge it on the Nemeton. He heard rustling that sounded distinctly like heels striding forward. Lydia placed the bowl with the spell’s ingredients next to him on the stump. Stiles places a hand over the bowl. A silver flame flickered around the items in the bowl, licking at Stiles’ open palm. 

“Now, Lydia.” 

On cue, Lydia began chanting in Ancient Greek. The words seemed to flow through Stiles and straight into his spark, lighting it up. As Lydia recited the last line, Stiles opened his eyes and they shone bright purple. 

Stiles stood up slowly and started to walk with purpose, as if on autopilot. The difference between Normal Stiles and Spark Stiles was considerable. Namely, his strong determined stride, balance, and agility. It was quite clear to anyone paying attention that Stiles issues were not subconscious but stemmed from his very conscious anxiety and self-doubt. Because nothing about his Spark controlled movement was unsure. 

But it was unlikely anyone noticed, besides Lydia, of course. She saw everything. 

The group followed Stiles closely. Up hills, down and around, over downed trees, and through a clearing. Until he eventually stopped outside of the shell of the burnt out Hale house. 

They all looked around with uncertainty. 

“Are you sure this is correct, Stiles?” Lydia asked. 

“We have reached the destination.” Stiles said robotically, still very much in the trance. 

“Ok.” Lydia sighed. “Curly fries.”

Stiles jolted a bit like his was shocked. His eyes returned to their usual honey brown shade. 

“Really? The safeword is Curly fries?” Malia joked. 

“When does the mention of curly fries not stop me in my tracks?” Stiles countered.

Malia cleared her throat but said nothing.   
He had a point. 

“Why here, Stiles?” Scott asked. 

Lydia surveyed the area around Stiles. She tapped her chin thoughtfully with one manicured nail. 

“There are a few possibilities.” Lydia started. 

“Could be the trail ran cold. Maybe one of your parents died here. It's even possible that your family was tied to the Hale’s. Hell, you might even be a Hale. In that case, they might've also died here. Which, sorry, because that really sucks. I wouldn't wish that fate on anyone… except, of course, the bastards that caused this.” Stiles rambled. 

Scott scoffed him. “How could she be a Hale? Wouldn't there be a record of the bodies found? Everyone was accounted for, right? Or they could've been posted as missing.” He reasoned.

Stiles turned to his best friend. His eyes fond. 

“That's a good observation, Scotty. But my dad said that it was so bad, they couldn’t recognize all of them. Couldn't even tell who was who or if anyone was missing. He doesn't like to talk about it. But he's said that much, at least.”

Lydia sighed heavily. “It would make sense. The timeline fits.”

“Hale fire happened right around the time my mom died. About 9-10 years ago.” Stiles said. 

Malia added. “And I was found 9 years ago. I wish I could just remember!” 

Scott laid a tentative hand on his girlfriend's shoulder. “Don't beat yourself up over it. If you are a Hale, maybe forgetting is a good thing.” She pulled him into a much needed hug. 

Lydia turned and walked toward the couple. Stiles trailed behind her. “I'll have to ask her when she gets back. If anybody would know, she might.” 

“Your sweet, sweet lady.” Stiles teased. 

Lydia rolled her eyes but did not look back at him. “Please stop calling her that, it's creepy.”

“Isn't there something we can do while we wait?” Malia asked, extricating herself from Scott's arms. “Records or something?”

“If we don't know exactly what we're looking for that could take a while.” Stiles offered. “But I guess if we go with the Hale assumption, that might narrow it down a bit. Could someone carry me back? That spell took a lot out of me.”

The others turned and walked back toward the direction that they parked. 

“Really, guys? I mean two of you could carry me without breaking a sweat.” Stiles hollered after them. “Seriously. Scott help a brother out, dude.”

 

***

 

After kicking Brandon's ass in Call of Duty twice, Derek was ready to settle in to pajamas and a comfy warm bed. He pulled a pair of sweatpants from his wardrobe and started to change when his phone buzzed on his bed. The screen noted a WhatsApp message from Stiles. That made the werewolf smile.

He finished getting dressed and pulled back the covers on his bed before opening the app to reply. 

**Stiles: Derek. Derek. Derek. Derek?**

He rolled his eyes as his fingers slid over the keyboard onscreen. In just under a week, he'd gotten pretty good at navigating his new phone. Thanks in no small part to Stiles.

**Derek: Yes, Stiles?**

He watched the “typing…” status at the top of the screen until the message popped up. 

**Stiles: Hi! Did you get home alright? You're home now, right?**

**Derek: Yea. Got back in time for dinner.**

**Stiles: Sweet! I love when that happens.**

Derek wished that he could see his beautiful boy. 

**Derek: wanna video chat? Have to keep it PG though. Don't need my sister hearing that.**

The fact that he couldn't see Stiles’ body upset him even as he typed it. But he really didn't want to have _that_ conversation with Laura. 

No sooner did he hit send that a call request came up on screen. 

He hit accept and he was not ready for the image that came next. 

Stiles was clearly laying in bed, looking soft and cuddly, wrapped in a big, white comforter like a burrito. His hair was rumpled, and his eyes looked glassy from sleep. Derek whimpered at the sight of him. He wanted so badly to step through the phone and hold him.

“Um, hello? Earth to Derek.” Stiles smiled. Obviously catching Derek staring at him in awe. 

“Sorry. You just look so comfy. Did I wake you?”

Stiles rolled his eyes affectionately. “I messaged you first. Remember? I woke up from a way too long nap and wanted to talk to you.”

“You just woke up?” Derek looked at the alarm clock in the nightstand. “It's gotta be like 9 over there.”

Stiles flopped down into his pillow with a huff. “I keep odd hours. And I used a lot of my magic today so it sapped me quickly.”

“What were you doing that got you so exhausted?”

Stiles cocked an eyebrow and had Derek instantly regretting the PG rating to their conversation. He just wanted to run his hands through that silky bed hair and hold on for the ride. 

“I was helping my friends with that locating spell I was telling you about.”

“How did that go?” Derek asked, trying desperately not to think too hard on Stiles biting his bottom lip. 

“Results inconclusive. It didn't lead us to a person but a location in the middle of nowhere. We're still trying to figure out how it relates, or if maybe the spell didn't work.”

Derek gazed at the younger man's brown eyes. Stiles tried to hide a shy smile in his pillow. 

“If I could be of help at all, let me know. I'd be more than happy to.”

“That's why you're the best, Sexywolf.” Stiles purred.

Derek made a cutting gesture with his hand in front of his throat. And Stiles blushed beautifully. 

“Sorry. Forgot. Sexywolf isn't PG then.” Stiles teased.

Derek scrubbed a hand down his face. This boy would be the death of him. Maybe a wonderful, satisfying death, but a death all the same. 

 

***

 

A large yawn escaped his mouth as he trudged down the stairs. Although he got a little extra time to sleep in, his body was still off of anything that resembled a routine. Derek noticed only one heartbeat coming from the kitchen and followed it to his sister. Laura sat at the table of the little breakfast nook. She nursed her coffee and flipped through a home design magazine. 

“Good morning.” She stretched as she got up to greet him. 

As she planted a kiss on his cheek, he ducked down and rubbed his face into the side of her neck. 

“Morning.” He mumbled. 

“There's French toast in the toaster oven. And coffee still warm in the pot. I could make you the rest of the bacon too.”

Derek rubbed at the sleep in his eyes. “Yes, please.”

He grabbed a mug from the hooks under the shelving unit and began to pour some of the coffee into his cup. 

“Where's Brandon?”

She didn't look up as she placed the last of the bacon into the pan on the stove. 

“He got called out early. ‘Tis the season and all.” She lamented. 

Derek sipped at his coffee. “What isn't the season for heating and air conditioning?”

Laura chuckled. “Spring and Fall.”

He almost forgot he's not in California anymore. 

Grabbing a plate from the cupboard, Derek started grabbing the remainder of the French toast in the oven, immediately covering the slices with syrup. He opened the drawer and pulled out silverware before heading over to the table. 

Derek sat down across the table from where his sister had been sitting. As he dug into his breakfast, a thought came over him. Call it intuition, but he knew this was the moment. 

“How did you know? Ya know, with Brandon?”

Laura looked thoughtfully at the bacon as she flipped the strips in the pan. 

“That he was my mate?” She countered.

Derek swallowed hard. “Yea.”

She sighed as she thought of the right words, tucking a loose strand of long brown hair behind her ear.   
“Other than it just feeling right… my wolf knew. My initial instinct was to claim him. And perhaps being an Alpha, it was to bring him into the pack and protect him. But, like I said, it just felt right. Like a completion.”

Derek swirled a piece of French toast around in the syrup while he listened to her intently. 

“I felt like I had hit a roadblock in my healing. That I still had loose ends but had no idea how to shore them up. But he was the last puzzle piece. He locked everything into place. I feel like everything led to him.” Laura smiled turned introspective, like she was remembering the most beautiful moment. She was stunning.

“Why? Do you think you found your mate?”

Derek reached for his coffee and took a quick sip. Feeling his throat go dry suddenly. All he could do was nod. 

“I had a feeling that might be it.” She mused. “I sensed it when you said that you made a friend. You felt a little too happy for only making a friend.”

Laura turned off the burner and walked over to the table. 

“Would you like to tell me about them?”

She scraped the bacon onto Derek's plate before placing the pan back on the stove and sitting back down at the table. 

Derek couldn't meet her eyes just yet. 

“He's… beautiful. Funny. Sarcastic. Talkative.” Derek snickered. “Incredibly intelligent. Clever. Loyal. And just… amazing.”

Looking up, he locked eyes with her. She was beaming at him. Pure love in her eyes. “I can tell you're smitten. Your wolf is almost purring.”

Derek smiled sheepishly into his coffee. 

“Does he know about you?”

He glanced at get tentatively as he grabbed a strip of bacon. “He has a Spark.”

Laura gaped at him. 

“I accidentally flashed my eyes and he knew. Didn't even make a big deal. Just… oh, you're a werewolf. Like it was nothing new. Then he showed me his eyes.”

“Wow. What's his name?”

Derek smiled brightly thinking of him. “Stiles.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts? Feelings? Always welcomed ❤


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year!
> 
> I'm hoping to get these chapters out a little more easily now that I've got a clearer idea of how I want the story to go. I even have the end planned and half written. So fingers crossed. 
> 
> The story doesn't follow a precise timeline, per se, so just know that this isn't all happening at once. There could be several weeks or a month or two between chapters. I'm not sure what is the appropriate time with truck travel between coasts. Even I'm not clear on my own timeline. Maybe it'll become clearer as we go forward. I'm just along for the ride :)
> 
> Enjoy!

***

 

Derek groaned his release onto his bare chest and stomach. On the other end, Stiles licked his lips hungrily at the sight, having already shot his on himself. 

Beautiful green eyes heavy-lidded, as a lazy smile formed on his lips. 

“I will never get tired of seeing that. Five stars every time.”

Derek teased. “You'd recommend me then?”

“No, I'm not sharing you with anyone.” Stiles protested, giving no hint that he realized the implication of his words in his sex drunk state, as he continued to blather on. 

But Derek picked up on it. His blush gave it away, if only Stiles would pay attention. 

“So, where are you again?” Stiles asked. 

Derek gave a show of picking his head up to look out the window, before plopping his head back on his pillow.  
“Don't know, don't care.”

Stiles grabbed a couple tissues from the box on his nightstand and continued to clean himself.  
“You're looking sleepy there, big guy. Do you want me to let you go?”

“Never.” Derek murmured through a yawn. 

That, Stiles caught. His mouth went dry and his mind started working a mile a minute. _Does he mean that like he doesn't want to stop talking to me? Is he possessive like he won't let me ever be with anyone else?_ Not that he wanted to at the moment but if he meant it in a creepy way, Stiles was out. Maybe after they slept together a couple more times. But then again, could he really let a man like that go? Maybe he meant it in a sweet, endearing way, like he was falling in love and didn't want anyone else. But this was Stiles he was talking about. So, maybe not. 

“Earth to Stiles.” Derek waved his hand in front of the camera to get his attention. “Maybe you need some sleep. I think you've short circuited.”

“You tend to have that effect on me, Sexywolf.”

Derek winked and smiled, that brilliant thousand watt smile, that had Stiles momentarily forget everything. 

“Maybe I should go, if I don't, your smile might melt me.” Stiles teased. 

Derek blushed again. “Ok, ok. Goodnight, my sweet Magic Man.”

“Goodnight, you sexy hunk of wolf meat.”

“That just sounds wrong.” Derek rolled his eyes. 

Stiles chuckled. “It's cute and clever, like me. Don't deny it.”

“Goodnight, Stiles.”

The video call ended and Stiles fell back into his bed. His previous train of thought was back in the station and he didn't know what to do. The thoughts swirled around his head until his body finally shut down and gave into sleep. He's not sure when that was, but he was pretty sure he was starting to see the sun come up. 

 

***

 

Stiles flopped himself over the diner counter. Phone in hand as he scrolled mindlessly through email and social media. He contemplated opening a game app if he didn't think the waitress would give him shit, if she saw it. 

The diner was dead and his only company was the aging, blue-haired dinosaur. The oldest waitress in the diner if not all of Beacon Hills. It took forever before she let him scroll his phone without giving him guff for it. A game app might be pushing it. 

He really wished that he was alone. Or at least with someone more tolerant. 

At 2 AM on Thursday, there was almost nothing to do and no one to talk to. Even Derek was unreachable. Either driving or sleeping. He had considered posting a suggestive photo on WhatsApp, but he didn't want to take the chance that he would open it while driving and cause an accident. Not that Stiles thought he had accident-worthy hotness. But he might be able to cause a mild distraction if he had the right lighting or the right filter. 

A message pinged on his phone and the pop up notification read: Message from Scotty. 

_What on earth is he doing awake at 2 AM?_

**Scotty: Hey, just wanted to let you know I'll be calling a pack meeting in a couple days.**

**Scotty: We have a lot of new information to go over.**

**Scotty: And now that we'll all be back together, it'd be nice to get on the same page again.**

Stiles glanced over at the withering old bag of bones. She didn't move from her newspaper and cup of coffee. Not even bothering to acknowledge his presence. He rolled his eyes and his fingers slid over the onscreen keyboard, barely giving it a sideways glance. 

**Stiles: Sure, dude. Just let me know what time and I'll be there.**

**Scotty: Thanks, man.**

**Scotty: And what is this about you having a new man?**

Stiles glared at the words on the phone like they personally offended him. 

_Oh, that sneaky, red-headed, little minx._

**Stiles: Don't listen to Lydia. It's nothing, or barely nothing. If it became something I would tell you. Ok? Promise.**

Stiles thunked his head down on the counter. Luckily, he could vouch for its cleanliness, having cleaned it himself. Now if only he could vouch for his friends staying out of his sex life, that'd be great. 

Out of the deafening silence, despite the lame music from the radio, the mummified waitress cleared her throat. But given that she smoked nearly 3 packs a day, she might've been coughing up a lung. Maybe he can just call the ambulance and take her away. They couldn't blame him for thinking she was at death's door with the way she looked and carried on. 

“Look alive, we've got a customer.” The old lady croaked in her raspy smoker's voice. 

At that, Stiles perked up. He jumped up straight and ran hands down the front of his shirt to make himself more presentable. At least he wouldn't be bored anymore. He really needed to reevaluate his working schedule. Or maybe his choice of work in general. But right now, it was show time. Someone had to feed those hungry weirdos keeping odd hours. 

Once he looked up to welcome the guest, he caught sight of the familiar face just before they opened the door. Stiles nearly catapulted the counter. How he didn't brain himself on the formica surface or trip over his own feet and fall flat in his face, he had no idea. When he thought about it later, he just chalked it up to his newly acquired Spark reflexes.

A soft “ooof” resonated through the restaurant as Stiles pounced and threw his arms around Derek. His lips stuck the landing, meeting their target without knocking either of them out cold. Another win. 

Derek held tight to him as his tongue slid into the eager mouth. His left hand curling around the back of his neck, lightly rubbing at the skin there to leave some of his scent. 

“Cut it out. You'll scare off all the customers.” The creaky old lady voice broke in. 

Stiles reluctantly pulled his face away from Derek's in a huff of exasperation. “What customers, Margaret? Our sole customer who is banging me? I don't think I'll scare him off by climbing him like a tree and massaging his tonsils with my tongue.”

Derek blushed, biting at his lip to keep his ill-timed laughter to himself. “You're ridiculous.”

Stiles turned back to him with a brilliant smile. “You wouldn't have me any other way, Sexywolf.”

“True.”

Stiles wrapped his arms tighter around the werewolf, tucking his face into his neck for a thorough embrace. 

Margaret the dinosaur scoffed behind them. “I'm going for a smoke break.”

Stiles didn't even move until the elderly woman ambled past them and out the door. 

“You didn't tell me you were coming.” Stiles mumbled into his throat. 

“Surprise.” Derek replied.

Stiles pressed his body further into Derek's. The hard lines of their bodies matching up perfectly. “I was looking forward to seeing you. You've had me so worked up after our little sessions that I usually have to jerk off again just to calm down.” Stiles confessed. 

Derek grinned and slid a hand down to cup Stiles’ butt. “Me too.”

“That's it.” Stiles stepped back and grabbed Derek's wrist. 

Without another word, he dragged Derek into the men's bathroom. 

“Stiles…”

The younger man pushed him against the sink counter and closed the distance in a heartbeat. “Can I suck you off?” Stiles whispered against his mouth. 

Derek gasped, sucking in his partner's breath.  
“Daaaamn, Stiles…”

“That's not exactly what I was looking for.” Stiles slid his hands down Derek's clothed chest, feeling the curve of muscle beneath the fabric. “Tell me.”

Derek caressed his cheek with one hand. “Yes. Please.”

“Yessir. Gladly.”

Stiles unceremoniously dropped to his knees. He pushed up at the hem of Derek's shirt as his other hand groped the clothed crotch. The gorgeous truck driver already half hard in his pants. Stiles glanced up at the beautiful face and was greeted by hungry blue eyes. He grinned evilly, approving of the response. 

Before he concerned himself with undoing the fly, Stiles tilted his chin up and licked a tantalizing stripe along Derek's left hip bone. The wolf growled above him. 

Sliding the zipper down, Stiles noticed something missed. A small whimper slipped from his mouth.

“No underwear. I swear I just got even harder, if that's possible.” Stiles muttered. 

Derek carded fingers through his soft brown hair. “I've come to associate this diner with good food and sex thanks to you. Can you blame me?”

“Nope. You're a smart man.”

Stiles quickly pulled Derek's jeans down enough to pull all of him out. He tested the waters, wrapping his hand around the thick uncut dick and teasing the foreskin up and over the head. His eyes on Derek's face to gauge his reaction. The werewolf tightened his grip on Stiles’ hair but not painfully so. 

With a rye smile, the younger man dove in. His tongue playing with the edge of the foreskin before encircling him completely and taking him as far as he could go. Which, surprising to Derek, was almost all the way. A growl rumbling in his chest as he watched Stiles’ mouth work over him. He could feel his nails start to grow but he controlled his shift, unfortunately holding back a little of his own pleasure in the process. 

Just as Stiles got into a good rhythm, Derek felt him slip a fingertip past his balls and started to massage circles into the small strip of sensitive skin there. “Fuck...Stiles…”

Derek reached his other hand down to grip the counter and barely contained a full howl as he came unexpectedly down that beautiful pale throat.

Before Stiles pulled off of him, he saw the white knuckled grip Derek had on the edge of the counter, causing the surface to lightly crack. 

He looked up at the panting werewolf. 

“Where did you… how did you…?” Derek tried.

Stiles grinned at him as he got to his feet. “I'm the go to guy when it comes to research. Looking for new ways to get off, I fell down a bit of a rabbit hole.”

“You're amazing.” Derek sighed. 

Pulling his jeans up with one hand, he grabbed Stiles by the shoulder with the other and spun him around until he faced the sinks. Over his shoulder Derek spoke to his reflection in the mirror. 

“I know a few things myself.” Derek teased with a lifted eyebrow. 

Derek made quick work of Stiles pants and underwear, yanking them to his knees and gently bending him over the sink. 

“I could suck your dick, or I could do... something else.” 

Stiles didn't need to look at those expressive eyebrows to understand the innuendo in Derek's words. It was well implied. 

“I remember you do good work.” Stiles replied. “I'm yours, big guy.”

Those words cut right through Derek, making him nearly feral with the implication. But his human brain won him over with reason. It wouldn't be wise to claim him against his will. 

Instead Derek bent over Stiles, and slipped his finger along his bottom lip. The realization lit in Stiles eyes and he sucked the finger into his mouth, slicking it up with his saliva. 

When Derek pulled his finger back, he nibbled lightly at Stiles earlobe as the wet digit circled his hole and slowly penetrated him. As the pad of his fingertip made contact with his prostate, Stiles let out half curses under his breath. Derek slowly started rubbing circles with his thumb on the perineum while massaging the prostate at the same time. 

Derek preened at the clipped noises coming from Stiles. 

“Oh my God… please touch…” Stiles tried. His body writhing and almost vibrating beneath the werewolf. 

“I am touching you.” Derek teased. His voice low and seductive nearly had Stiles coming. 

“Touch my… please… my dick…”

Derek wrapped his arm around Stiles and teasingly slid one finger up the underside of his cock. As if by magic, this sent him hurling over the edge into his orgasm. 

When Stiles finally stopped coming, Derek gently turned him. He ducked down and licked any stray cum off his spent cock. Stiles shivered with overstimulation. 

Finally eye to eye again, Derek quirked an eyebrow at him. 

“Ugh. Put your eyebrows away. Give me time… to process what the fuck just happened.” 

“Stimulation inside and outside simultaneously.”

“Ah fuck.” Stiles groaned as he flung his arms around Derek's neck. “You've ruined me.”

He knew that he shouldn't but Derek couldn't help but hear _’for anyone else’_ after that statement.

Once they were made decent again, Derek emerged from the bathroom first as a distraction to the waitress to get his drink order. 

“Coffee and a water.” Derek ordered.

When she walked away, Stiles slipped back into the dining room and plopped down in the booth beside Derek.

He slid a hand covertly up his thigh and leaned into the mass of werewolf muscle, before leaving a kiss on his stubbled jaw.

“What are ya having?” 

Derek gave him some serious side eye at the innuendo. 

“Everything. If I'm allowed.” Derek boldly stated. “But I think I'll start with a burger.”

Stiles swallowed hard and his mind began to race again. He didn't want to but it was difficult not to read into his words. It was kind of unfair sometimes the way Derek spoke as if every word was planned out in advance. Sure, driving a truck left the werewolf a lot of time to think but he doubted he thought that far into their interactions. Not like Stiles did. 

“Tell me what you want and I'll get it for you.”

Derek took his eyes off the menu and surveyed the younger man. Stiles blushed.

“I'll have the umm… the American burger.” Derek finally said.

Stiles cleared his throat and swallowed hard, as he tried for a response. “I'll get the grill started. I'll let Margaret take your order. I'll be back when I can.” He learned forward and learned a chaste kiss on the older man's lips before reluctantly pulling away, walking back into the kitchen. 

Of course, Derek watched that ass as he walked away. 

Then he was left with the aging waitress, who barked out, “what'll ya have?” as she came back with his drinks. 

And for the first time in a long time, Derek knew exactly what he wanted but it wasn't on the menu. 

***

When Stiles finished Derek's food, he delivered it himself. With an extra order of curly cries, obviously for himself. 

As they ate, they talked and Stiles stole sips of Derek's water between mouthfuls of fries.

The werewolf just smiled adoringly at his mate. 

“So, how long are you in town for this time?” Stiles asked when they finished eating. He fidgeted in his seat as Derek swallowed a sip of his coffee. 

Derek's green eyes glittered, taking in everything he could sense from Stiles in the moment. His heart rate picked up slightly, indicating his nervousness. Derek found this odd considering how intimate they have been. 

“I'll be around for 3 or 4 days.” 

Stiles looked him over with a cheeky smile. “Well, I recommend lots and lots of sex.”

Despite the outward appearance, Derek could smell the nervous sweat starting. A subtle twitch of his eye. And an odd mixture of chemo-signals that conflicted with the easy going nature of his statement. It didn't make sense. He knew that he had to dig into that. 

“Is that all you want to do, Stiles?”

“Well,” Stiles scoffed, taken aback. “Don't you?”

Derek smiled privately at the idea of having Stiles in every possible position. But as much he wanted that, he knew there were other things he wanted just as much. And if he was reading the younger man correctly, he might want them too.

“Is that all you want to do?” Derek repeated. 

Stiles froze for a moment. “Do you not…”

Derek reached out quickly, grabbing his hands in hopes of assuaging the rising confusion and beginning of spicy anger. “Oh, I want that. I want all of that. Especially with you. But I feel like there was maybe something else you wanted and that… maybe you're afraid to ask for.”

Stiles looked away, scrubbing a hand through his hair. Gazing out the diner window, he worked over the words, opening and closing his mouth a couple times.

“I think you're making this harder than it needs to be. How much longer are you on shift?”

Stiles turned to the clock, on the wall, behind the counter. “Another hour.”

Derek gripped his shoulder, getting his attention back. “Tell you what, you think about this. When you know, come to the loft. Anytime. I'll message you the address.” He cupped Stiles chin in his hand. “I want you to know you can tell me anything.”

The wolf tapped his hip, in a silent command to get up. As they slid out of the booth, Derek pulled the younger man into a hug. 

“You never know, we might be wanting the same things.” Derek pressed a kiss to his temple before pulling away. 

“Using super powers should be against the rules.” Stiles murmured.

Derek grinned. “Shut up. You like it.”

Stiles hand casually grazed Derek's ass as he turned to walk away. The wolf preened at the attention. Derek paid the bill at the register and left with a wink to Stiles. 

Not a moment later, his phone pinged with a WhatsApp notification. 

***

Stiles tossed and turned in his bed. His mind muddled with every possible negative scenario. He even started to wonder if Derek was a serial killer who was luring him to his death. As ridiculous as he knew that was. 

He didn't know what to do, so he did the only thing that made sense to him. 

The phone rang as he pressed it to his ear. It rang so long he assumed it would go to voicemail until at the last second, an exasperated voice answered. 

“Yes?” Lydia huffed. 

Stiles nearly dropped the phone in surprise at hearing her voice, flailing to keep the device from falling to the floor. “Hey.” Stiles choked out as he righted himself. 

“I'm a little busy right now, Stiles. So can you please spill it?

“Yea, sorry. I know I'm interrupting but I didn't know who else to call. I'm having a love life crisis. I'm starting to think he might be a serial killer.”

“What?! What did he do to you? Are you ok?” Lydia sputtered.

Stiles pulled a face at her reaction. “Um, nothing. He said he wanted to talk. It sounded like he didn't want to have sex with me anymore. But he said it right after we had sex, and then told me to come to his apartment later. Don't you think that's weird? I think that's weird.”

Lydia laughed humorously. “For as intelligent as you are, you can be really dumb sometimes. Look, I'm making breakfast right now. I can't answer your questions. Only he can do that for you. So, if he didn't threaten you with bodily harm, can I go back to cooking?”

Stiles balked at her. 

“So, you're making her breakfast, huh? Sounds serious.”

“Goodbye, Stiles.”

“Lydia, wait, what if he's an axe murderer?” Stiles heard the tell tale beep of the call ending. Sure, he realized how ludicrous that sounded. But one can never be too sure. 

***

At the loft, Derek was nervous. He was seriously having second thoughts about how he left things with Stiles. He couldn't sleep, so he cleaned. Then worked out. And then cleaned some more. He took a shower, then rearranged the furniture. 

Luckily he passed out on the couch, so he got a few hours of sleep, at least. He woke to a buzzing of a notification on his phone and the bluish grey of the setting sun, permeating the loft. 

**Magic Man: Can I come over in a bit?”**

Derek's heart leapt in his chest. His foot tapped happily at the armrest as he typed his response.

**Sexywolf: Of course, I'll be here.**

The wolf sprang to his feet and in an attempt to calm his nervousness, went to the kitchen to begin cooking. 

He had just turned the oven off and took the tray out as he heard the the elevator carrying a familiar heartbeat to his floor. 

Just as the elevator doors opened, he slid open the big metal door on its track. 

Stiles looked up, surprised to see Derek waiting for him. Before realization dawned on him. 

“Oh, you probably heard me coming.”

“Come in.” Derek greeted with a smile. 

But as Stiles moved to walk around Derek and into his home, the werewolf caught him with one arm and pulled him into a kiss. As much as he loved having that physical contact with his mate, it was also to reassure him that nothing had really changed between them. Not yet, at least.

“Hey, Sexywolf.” Stiles tried and failed to sound nonchalant.

Closing the door, Derek steered him toward the kitchen. “I made Chicken Parm, if you're hungry.”

Stiles bit his lip. “Ok. Yes, very much.”

Derek shooed him out of the kitchen with a wave of his hands. “Go sit. I'll serve you for once.”

Stiles slowly took a seat at the table and watched Derek mill about the kitchen, plating up food for them. He set both of their plates at the table and joined Stiles for their meal. 

“So, you cook?”

“Obviously.” Derek responded. “And you're stalling.”

“This isn't easy for me. I've never been in a relationship like this. If this is a relationship.”

Derek chewed on his food and considered this. 

“What do you think this is?”

Stiles rolled his eyes, shoving a piece of chicken in his mouth. 

“Ok, this is amazing, by the way.” He complimented with a mouthful of half eaten food. 

“Stiles…”

“Sex. We hook up, it's about sex.”

Derek set his utensils down and turned to face Stiles. “Is that all you want? Is that all you want this to be?”

Stiles chewed on his pasta and almost choked at Derek's words. 

“...No. But it's fine if it is. I could handle it. It's not a big deal.”

“Stiles!” Derek cut him off. “I made you dinner.” He added with a sweet smile. “What does that tell you?”

Derek turned back to his plate and resumed eating. 

“I don't know. This just didn't seem like the go on dates, introduce to people type of thing.”

“It can be whatever you want it to be.” Derek continued. “What do you want? Back at the diner, what were you thinking?”

“I…” Stiles swallowed hard and forcefully stabbed at the penne still left on his plate. “I wanted to hold you… and fall asleep next to you.”

Derek leaned in and dragged his lips along Stiles’ pulse point. 

“That sounds amazing.” He purred.

“Really? That's like...not our thing. We have sex, like a lot. Nothing else.”

Derek straightened up in his chair, giving his full attention to Stiles. 

“Why do you feel the need to define what we have? Why can't we do something else?”

Stiles opened and closed his mouth a couple times, like a fish out of water, trying to sort out his thoughts. “I guess we could, but that changes things and we haven't talked about it.”

“We're talking now. Changes what things?”

“Our dynamic.” Stiles flailed his arms dramatically. “Changes the nature of our relationship.”

“According to whom?” Derek asked. 

“According to every relationship ever. This is a hookup, booty calls kind of thing.”

Derek took a deep breath and a patient smile graced his lips. “But we both admitted that it's more than that for us. Our relationship isn't going to look like anyone else’s because it's not, it's ours. And the fact that I'm a werewolf and you're not, already proves that it's not going to be normal. So, why try to fit it into a category?”

Stiles swiped a hand through his hair in frustration. Derek caught the faint smell like burning rubber. He knew he had to steer this ship into calmer waters

“Don't force it, Stiles. Don't overthink it. If we want to cuddle, we can. We want to go out, we can. If we want to stay in and have marathon sex, we totally can.”

“So, you want to be with me?” Stiles asked finally. 

“I want you. I know it's not ideal and I know it doesn't look a certain way. But let's just let it happen naturally. Let it be something we want. I want you. You want me. Take it from there and see what happens.”

Derek could almost see the wheels turning in Stiles head. After a moment of thought, Stiles smiled to himself, got out of his chair and crawled onto Derek's lap. 

“Is this okay?” Stiles asked, nudging Derek's jaw with his nose. 

“If it involves you being close to me, I'm all about it.” Derek agreed. “Wolves are pack animals.”

“Are you saying I'm pack?” Stiles inferred.

Derek stopped and thought. “I guess I am.”

With that, the wolf swooped down and kissed Stiles. Allowing himself to get lost in the feel and smell of his mate. He pulled back a bit and rested his forehead on his soft, pale cheek. 

“What would you like to?”

“Watch a movie.” Stiles answered quickly, without hesitation. 

Derek chuckled happily.

“Do you have dessert?” Stiles asked.

“I have Ice cream. I don't know if I can anything else.”

“That's… no, that's perfect.”

“You don't even know what flavor I have.” Derek teased, nibbling at his chin. 

“Does it really matter?” Stiles’ nose crinkled adorably. “It's ice cream. I don't discriminate.”

“Good point.” Derek tapped Stiles on the hip. “Go pick a movie. I'll clean up and get the ice cream.”

Stiles practically skipped over to the living area. Derek watched him with interest as he collected the plates. He just couldn't believe his luck. 

 

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed it. If you did, please feel free to leave me a comment :)
> 
> Or I guess you could also comment if you didn't. Constructive criticism and all.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles and Derek enjoy a full day together. And some unexpected discoveries are made.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow. Ok, it's been a while since I've updated this. But life happens and all that. I think there's only 2 or 3 chapters left of this, sho hopefully I won't keep you all waiting to long while I try to get my writing mojo going.

****

 

Slowly waking to consciousness, Derek breathed in the most delectable scent. He received a lungful of what smelled like fresh cinnamon rolls, a drizzle of caramel, with an odd, but intriguing essence of fresh morning dew and sunshine. Pulling the source of the smell even closer to his chest, he trailed kisses down the nape before even opening his eyes. 

Stiles was still mostly asleep by the sound of his heartbeat and even breathing. So Derek took the moment to drink him in fully. The creamy, pale expanse of his neck, and the trail of small beauty marks like paint flecked onto a beautiful canvas. His hand came to rest on the soft, flat stomach, underneath his shirt. He was getting drunk on Stiles, holding him closer and feeling how his smaller body reacted to his own. 

He just couldn't imagine himself waking up any other way anymore. 

With a small gasp of air, and stutter of accelerated heartbeat, Stiles began to wake. And Derek relished in witnessing it. 

Stiles' hand fell to the strong arm wrapped about his waist. His body stretched as he groaned, "good morning".

Derek planted a gentle kiss behind his ear. "Yes, it is."

While Stiles settled his body back against Derek, the werewolf growled lightly as his ass grazed his fully erect cock. 

"Well, I see you're awake then." Stiles teased. 

"I woke up with you in my arms. Normal reaction." Derek purred, as he peppered kisses along his partner's jaw. 

Stiles pushed his butt back purposefully this time, causing Derek to growl and tighten his grip on his him a fraction more. The younger man turned his head as much as he could to meet his lover's eyes. He found an electric, blazing blue starting back at him. When he met the gaze with his own flash of royal purple, Derek could smell the tang of electricity accompany it, along with the salted caramel of his arousal.

"What do you want, baby?" Derek purred.

Without a word, Stiles slithered his hand back between their bodies and pulled the waistband of Derek's briefs down to let his dick spring free. The wolf gasped at the sensation when Stiles took him in hand.

Derek growled. "Use your words."

Stiles retracted his hand and pulled his own boxers down, revealing his bare ass to his lover.

Derek grabbed his wrist to stop him, as Stiles pushed back to press Derek's cock against his crack. 

"Tell me. I want to hear you say it. I want you to tell me what you want." Derek hissed. 

Derek grasped his chin and gently tugged until their eyes met. He placed a feather light kiss on his perfect cupid's bow mouth. 

"I want you to make love to me… and never stop." Stiles sighed out.

"I can do that." Derek agreed. 

Then the wolf was a flurry of motion, getting up and tearing his briefs off his body, pressing Stiles' back on the mattress and yanking his boxers off of him. Derek gripped the back of the younger man's thighs and pushed his knees back toward the mattress. 

Stiles starred up at his lover, want so evident in his eyes, and his smell and his open body language. Derek tugged at the hem of the shirt hiding the beautiful pale torso. "Take that off." He growled out the command.

Complying, Stiles yanked the shirt over his head just in time to see Derek descend on his fully interested cock. 

Derek moaned around him as long fingers weaved through his dark hair, urging him on. Stiles whimpered at the vibrations. The wolf glanced up at his partner, as his mouth worked him over. Stiles bit his lip at the groan that threatened to escape at the sexy display.

Pulling off him with an audible pop, Derek growled. "Don't you dare. Don't hold back. There's nobody to hear us. So I want to hear you."

"Yessir." Stiles gasped as if he'd run a mile. 

Derek ran his hands gingerly down from Stiles' knees to his thighs. The younger man let out a tiny moan as he caressed the sensitive skin there. Ducking his head down, Derek licked a stripe up perineum to balls causing Stiles to yelp in surprise. 

The wolf snickered to himself. 

"Don't sound so satisfied, you wanted to hear everything. You get the pathetic noises too."

Derek took an unexpected bite of Stiles' thigh. "I want it all." He panted. 

"Oh my God!" Stiles nearly screamed as Derek's tongue circled puckered flesh.

The young man gripped the headboard for dear life as Derek lapped at his entrance like a hungry cat. He couldn't even registered what sounds escaped him, but he was quite certain they were undignified, and downright dirty. The way his scandalous tongue twirled and speared him open. It felt almost like an out of body experience. Like what heaven must feel like. 

"Oh, Derek! Oh my God!" Stiles unconsciously moaned loudly.

Stiles got a moment to catch his breath, when he felt that amazing tongue swipe along his hip bone. When his heavy lidded eyes could open again, he watched the werewolf suck open-mouthed kisses up his torso. Stopping only to gently tug at a nipple with his teeth, leaving Stiles panting. 

"You liked that, I assume." Derek teased.

Pulling Derek the rest of the way up, Stiles attacked his mouth. Wrapping his long gangly limbs tightly around that breathtaking body, his tongue just had to thank Derek's for it's incredible talent. 

Derek pulled off of him with a breathy laugh. 

"I almost came." Stiles admitted. 

"You don't want to come on just my tongue?" Derek asked. Those beautiful eyes like sea glass sparkled at him and threatened to steal his breath again. 

"I want you inside me."

Derek smiled at his breathless partner. He thoroughly enjoyed the pleasure he gave to Stiles and he would gladly see him come several times over before he even touched himself. But he couldn't deny that he wanted to be wrapped up inside Stiles, just as much. Pleasing his mate was his first priority.

_Mate._

There it was again. 

His smile only grew as he reached over to the nightstand to grab the lube. Stiles took the moment to relish in the feel of partner's body under his hands. Feeling the bunch and curve of hard muscle and soft flesh from shoulder blade to the curve of his lower back, and to the tempting mound of his sculpted ass. When Derek came back, Stiles was biting his lip, enjoying his little exploration.

"You have a beautiful body." Stiles confessed. 

Derek dipped down for a small, chaste kiss. "So do you."

Kneeling up between Stiles' legs, Derek made a show of coating his finger and then slowly exaggerating his motions as he probed Stiles' entrance. 

The first contact with his prostate, had him howling with pleasure. His whole body felt lit up like a Christmas tree. 

"God! Derek! Please… please-need you inside me now!"

Derek smirked at his accomplishment. "That's only two fingers, baby. I don't want to hurt you."

"You won't." Stiles gasped as Derek continued to fuck him with his fingers. "Please, I need you."

The wolf looked up at his lover. He couldn't argue with a request like that. 

"We'll take it slow."Derek agreed. 

Stiles watched in anticipation as Derek prepared him himself, rubbing that magnificent cock with his left hand as his right fingers still prodded Stiles. 

Derek instructed him to pull his knees further down to the bed, as his head poked at Stiles' hole. Those green eyes watched rapt to his lover's reactions as he slowly took him. It was obvious Stiles was ready when he took his head with little issue. Still he slowly made his way inside, pausing when he could see a wince of pain in Stiles' eyes and smell the citrus-y tang that accompanied it. 

When he was fully seated, he leaned forward to kiss his partner before he slung Stiles' legs over his shoulder. 

"C'mon, Sexywolf. Fuck me so hard that I think of you every time I sit down." Stiles panted. 

Derek smirked, as he slowly began to pull out, only to slowly push back. 

It didn't take take long before Stiles gave little resistance and Derek thrusted into him effortlessly. His hips snapping forward and back with controlled force. Stiles' beautiful moans spurring him on.

"Oh Derek! Yes! So good!" Stiles shrieked. 

"Stiles! So good for me, baby!" Derek replied. 

Derek had to slap Stiles hand away when he reached down to finish himself. 

"I'm so close, Derek! Please!" Stiles pouted. "I need to come."

Not being able to deny his mate, Derek wrapped his hand around Stiles's weeping cock and helped bring him to his crescendo. 

Stiles yelled out his release. Eyes closing at the force of the orgasm ripping through him. 

"Stiles, look at me, baby." Derek grunted. "I need to see you when I…"

Before Derek could finish his thought, he saw those honey amber eyes meet his and he swore just the sight of them pushed him over the edge. Derek's body jerked as he came inside of Stiles. He lazily pumped his hips a few more times, riding out the wave of pleasure before he sank down next to his lover.

Stiles arms welcomed him. His lips placing kisses wherever he could reach. 

"Amazing." Stiles sighed. 

When his senses fully came back to him, Derek felt himself staring to soften, still inside Stiles. He pulled himself free, despite not wanting to ever leave him. Looking down, he noticed that Stiles had drifted off to sleep again. 

He smiled fondly at the peaceful sleeping face. Placing a kiss tip his temple, before pulling back to look some more. 

"You're the best thing that ever happened to me." Derek murmured to himself. 

Getting up, Derek gave himself a cursory cleaning with some wet wipes that he kept next to the lube, before plodding off toward the kitchen. 

 

***

 

Stiles slowly roused to the smell of coffee, among other things. His eyes drifted open just as Derek came walking back across the loft. A tray in his hands. Stiles smirked to himself, noticing Derek was still naked. 

"Good morning, again." Derek chuckled. 

"I can't believe I fell asleep." Stiles groused. 

Derek sat on the bed next to him. Stiles could see the tray was filled with plates of eggs, sausage, bacon, and toast. As well as two cups of coffee. 

"Sit up." Derek instructed him. 

"If I can." Stiles teased. He winced as he sat up against the pillows. Derek felt bad for a moment for putting him in that position, until a private smile slipped onto his face. 

Stiles hummed to himself. "Hurts so good."

Derek's cock twitched with renewed interest.

"You brought me breakfast in bed." Stiles sang. "Are you courting me or something"

When Derek didn't reply, Stiles' mouth dropped open. 

"Oh my God, you are. You're werewolf courting me."

Derek dropped his gaze with a shy smile. 

"That's why we had that conversation. This was never about just sex for you, was it?"

Unable to find the words, Derek shook his head. 

"Derek?"

The wolf finally looked back up at his mate. The young man had his hand over his heart. 

"You really like me." Stiles teased, pretending to wipe tears away. 

"Eat your breakfast, smart ass."

Stiles snorted. "Literally. My ass does smart."

"I would apologize but you seem pretty happy about that."

Stiles rolled his eyes as he chomped on a piece of toast. "Uh duh, that was the best sex I've had in my life. You literally knocked me out with an orgasm."

Derek preened as he reached for his coffee. 

"Oh God, these eggs are so good. What aren't you good at, Sexywolf?"

The wolf inside pranced around at the praise he was being given. "That's a trick my dad taught me. Made them in the microwave."

Food almost fell out of Stiles mouth, as he gaped at Derek. "What? You can't be serious."

"I'll show you next time." Derek said sliding in closer to his partner. 

Stiles picked up a fork and speared a link of sausage. "Would you like some sausage, handsome?" 

Derek quirked one eyebrow. "I'll always take your sausage." He teased. His mate blushing slightly as he gazed at him while gently pulling the whole piece into his mouth. 

Derek chuckled to himself. He seemed to short circuited Stiles.

"Eat up, then we can take as shower."

"Together?" Stiles insinuated. 

"Is there any other way?" Derek grinned. 

Stiles smirked as he tucked into his food again, occasionally feeding Derek too. He didn't think he would do something as cliche as that. But it seemed that he and Derek both had a kink for providing for each other.

 

***

 

Malia slammed the ancient book closed with a frustrated grunt. "This is absolutely pointless! I won't find what I need in a book!"

The metal of the operating table vibrated with the harsh movement. And the book's owner, gave a disapproving look. 

"Please be careful with these books they're very old." Deaton warned calmly. 

Scott reached over from the opposite side of the table in the vet's office, to rest a placating hand on Malia's. 

"There's information out there. There's gotta be. We just gotta look for it." Scott smiled tentatively. 

"We find out through asking people not through lineage and family trees." Malia argued. 

Deaton stepped forward, the light over the operating table illuminating him. His placid face gave nothing away. Unfortunately, neither did his scent. Scott was convinced he covered it somehow, with a spell or something. Not that he was very good at scenting, even though he's gotten better over the years. 

"This isn't a simple case." Deaton huffed. "If your parents are tied to the Hale's in some way, we won't have much information to go on. All the older family members who were more knowledgeable about the past generations and their allies and other packs, have perished in the fire. So, we have to find alternative measures to track down the information you seek."

Malia growled to herself. "And of course, the one person who could help was a freaking kid when it happened. Freaking great!"

Deaton eyed her like the petulant child she was being. As much as one can without rolling their eyes. 

"It was a great tragedy. To have so many of such a loved family snuffed out all at once." Malia noticeably deflated as Deaton spoke. "There are some other avenues we can pursue, with some of the other survivors, but I don't know how productive these might be."

Malia and Scott gaped at each other before turning their confused looks on the doctor. 

"Other survivors?" Malia asked. "What other survivors?"

The dark skinned vet looked on almost as confused as the weres in front if him. "You don't know?"

 

***

 

The diner was practically empty as Stiles came out of the back toting a plate stacked with chocolate chip pancakes. He smiled at the tower with pride as he brought them to the table and set them down. 

"One super stack of ooey gooey goodness!" Stiles chirped. 

Derek growled softly like the first rumble of thunder from on incoming storm. 

"You're so good to me." 

He carded a hand through Stiles already tousled hair, as the cook sat beside him. 

"You didn't have to keep me company at work, Der. I've managed before on my own."

The wolf wrapped an arm around Stiles' middle and reeled him in closer. 

"Who else is gonna make me delicious pancakes at 4 in the morning?" Derek murmured in his ear. 

Stiles swallowed thickly, trying to keep his hormones in check. His ass was already sore from how many times they couldn't keep their hands off each other, today alone. He didn't need to add fuel to the fire that was already burning down below. 

"What are waiting for? Throw some syrup on these puppies and tuck in." Stiles encouraged him. 

Derek did as he said, dumping a liberal amount over the pancakes. He glanced over at Stiles for a moment, noticing that the younger man was anticipating Derek's first bite as much as he was. 

When he bit into his first forkful, the goodness exploded in his mouth like a flavor bomb. Derek moaned, and Stiles adjusted himself discreetly at the wonderfully arousing sound. 

The next forkful, Derek offered to Stiles as he continued to chew on the last bite. The spark gladly accepted the proffered food and did not regret it. 

"Oh. I'm good." Stiles hummed. 

Derek smiled as he swallowed. "Yes, you are." He whispered. Leaning over, he left a sweet, syrupy kiss on Stiles' mouth.

Stiles draped an arm over Derek's shoulders as they continued to eat in relative silence. 

As they neared the end of the meal, Derek stiffened under Stiles and his eyes darted around, looking out the window. 

"Someone's coming." Derek grunted, as Stiles stole the last bite of pancakes. 

He looked around furiously as he chewed to see what Derek saw. Catching sight of the intruder, Stiles mumbled around the food in his mouth. "Friend, not foe."

As a doorbell chimed, Stiles' face was nestled into Derek's neck and he heard the werewolf's not so low snarl. Looking up quickly, he caught Derek's flash of blue eyes and sharpened teeth. Then, at the door, his coworker's golden eyes flashed back in response. 

"Whoa, Sexywolf." Stiles warned. 

Derek stopped suddenly and sniffed the air. The young woman at the door copied him.

"New man's hella protective, huh, Stiles?"

"A bit, yea."

Stiles snapped his attention back to Derek, hearing a low whimpering sound in the back of his throat. His beautiful eyes looking sad and distant. 

"You okay, Der?"

The young, dark haired woman carefully slinked forward to their table. 

"Is this okay, big guy?" She asked, slipping into the seat opposite the men.

Derek picked up his right arm and placed it on the table, wrist up. His eyes never once leaving the dark brown eyes in front of him. She complied slowly, bringing her arm up onto the table in a similar fashion. Derek pressed Stiles back against the booth with his left arm, as he gingerly grasped her right wrist, and slipped her shirt sleeve back with his thumb. 

"Is this some sort of initiation?" Stiles wondered aloud. His leg bouncing noticeable beneath the table. 

Derek looked into her eyes and back at her wrist. When her small spirally mark was revealed, Derek exhaled like he was punched in the stomach. His eyes glistening with tears as he tried to school his expression.

"Coraline?" Derek gasped. 

She blinked at him owlishly. "Derek?" She squawked.

Derek gripped the table and, in a quick jerking motion, pushed it into the aisle like it weighed nothing. Grabbing Cora from her seat, he pulled her up into his arms. She flung her arms around his neck, shoving her face into the crook of his neck and shoulder as she rubbed her face into his skin. He did the same to her with a low growl like a purr, as she wrapped her legs around his waist.

"What on… Hello? Am I interrupting something?" Stiles huffed.

"Don't worry, spaz. I'll give him back." Cora promised with a dazzling smile. 

"Family reunion." Derek sighed, pulling back to look at her face again. 

"Oh." The lightbulb finally turned on in Stiles brain and he gaped at the two wolves. "Oh shit. I can't believe I didn't… Derek _HALE_! How did I not… wait! Cora, I thought you didn't have any family?"

She smiled at Stiles, getting down from Derek's embrace. 

"That's what I thought too."

Derek smiled wistfully as he looked at her, pushing her hair out of her face. "I can't believe it. Laura is gonna shit!"

"Laura?" Cora asked incredulously. Derek nodded. 

Cora began to dab at her watery eyes. "You smell almost exactly how I remember." She blurted out.

Derek turned to look at Stiles adoringly over his shoulder. "I'm sorry… Babe, this is my little sister."

Stiles' jaw dropped. 

"Your sist-… No wonder. You both reminded me of each other. I thought it was a born wolf thing. Sorry? Did you say sorry? No sorry. Don't be sorry for this." Stiles exclaimed, flailing his arms around. "I wanna group hug some Hales!"

Derek happily gestured Stiles over to them as Cora rolled her eyes. "Oh goody, Stiles as a brother-in-law."

"Excuse me, I am a treasure!" Stiles wrapped both wolves into a hug. 

Derek pulled both of them in closer, and kissed Stiles affectionately on the temple. 

Cora groaned. "Ugh, you both smell like jizz."

And the men immediately pulled away. 

"I don't know what you speak of." Stiles replied. "Do you want something to eat? Of course you do, you're a werewolf. I'll make you something to eat." 

With that, Stiles retreated to the kitchen. 

"I'll leave you two to catch up." He tossed over his shoulder. 

 

***

 

As Stiles busied himself in the kitchen, Derek and Cora continued to talk all about what happened to them in the 9 years they were separated. 

Derek was surprised to find that Cora escaped and found a nearby pack to help her sneak into Mexico, thinking the family was still in danger from the hunters. Although, Derek suspected that the pack just wanted to take over the Hale territory with majority of them gone. She explained that she only came back once she turned 18, to try to figure out what happened.

Then he told her about moving across country with Laura and how she met Brandon and they mated. But she already knew about how he met Stiles. 

"So, does he know?"

"Um, he kinda knows I'm a werewolf." Derek deflected. 

Cora rolled her eyes. "You smell right together. I still remember some things, ya know."

Derek rubbed the back of his neck, realizing it was totally a Stiles mannerism. And by the knowing look on Cora's face, she caught that too.

"It's… just so new. I don't want to scare him off."

Cora snorted. "This is Stiles Stilinski we're talking about. He doesn't scare easily. He runs at scary with a baseball bat and sarcasm. Guy scares me sometimes."

"I know." Derek sighed. "But this is different. Or… maybe I'm just scared. It's so permanent. I mean, I'm crazy about him… it shouldn't be a thing. But… it's change, ya know."

Cora reached across the table and grasped his hands in hers. "I know. We've had enough change for 5 lifetimes." She rubbed at his knuckles affectionately.

"I'll have to tell Laura to come out. We should surprise her. And we should go to see Uncle Peter together."

"Uncle Peter? He's alive too!" Her eyes lit up and he hated to smash her hopes after this emotional reunion. 

Derek cleared his throat. "I thought you knew since you were here. Thought someone must've told you."

He watched the sadness come back into her eyes as he explained Peter Hale's predicament. If he knew that she didn't know, he would never had mentioned it like that. 

"Sorry for the emotional rollercoaster."

But she waved him off. It came with the territory for them. 

Derek thought Stiles was taking an awfully long time. Then immediately realized he was definitely stalling to give them time. Tuning into him in the kitchen, he noticed he didn't smell the grill going or hear anything except Stiles' rabbit heartbeat and the sound of him texting. 

The older wolf smiled to himself. 

"Stiles! You can come back out now, babe." Derek hollered toward the kitchen. 

The spark burst through the swinging kitchen doors, all smiles.

"How was it? Lots to talk about, I'm sure." 

Stiles slipped into the booth seat next to Derek, and the wolf immediately wrapped him into a side hug. 

"Where's my food, Stilinski?"

"Pffft." Stiles guffawed. "Have you met me? You didn't figure out that was my way of giving you privacy."

Derek nuzzled his nose along Stiles hairline and took a big inhale. "Thank you, Stiles. You really are too good for me."

"Am not." Stiles blushed. 

Cora groaned. "You two are sickening."

"You're just mad because Lydia isn't here to cuddle up with." Stiles stuck his tongue out at her. 

"Shut up, Stilinski."

 

****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do we think? 
> 
> I'll try to update more frequently this time but I can't make any promises. Life happens! 
> 
> But I have the rest plotted out for the most part, and I'm eager to finish this because I have a new story I'm working on. I'm hoping to get most, if not all, of the story done before I post it so I don't have the same problem I did with this one. 
> 
> Hopefully you'll hear more from me soon! ❤


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Derek attends a McCall pack meeting. Some harsh truths are revealed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What is this sorcery? Updating twice in one week? I'm on a roll! 
> 
> Thank you, Miss Meyers!   
> You're welcome, children ;)
> 
> I hope you enjoy it!

****

 

The blue jeep idled for a moment outside the McCall house. Stiles turned the key, killing the engine and glanced at his passenger. Derek sat stoically gazing out the windshield. He looked calm and nonchalant on the surface, but Stiles could almost feel the anxiety rolling off him. 

"If it gets too much, we can leave. They won't mind. Scott is practically my brother. Just tell me and we'll go. We could create a safeword."

Derek grumbled. "Stiles they can probably hear us."

"Oh, yea. There's that too. But you have nothing to worry about." Stiles waved off his fears. 

Derek gave him some wicked side eye that almost gave Stiles anxiety too.   
"I'm a wolf from a different pack on their territory, which is technically still my family's territory. I didn't introduce myself properly to them."

"You didn't realize they were here." Stiles reasoned.

Derek huffed and glared out the windshield again. "Well, I was sloppy. I should've known another pack would take over."

Stiles huffed. "Look your sister's in there. I don't think…"

"Correction, my sister's right here." Derek said, sensing Cora before she reached the jeep. 

"What do you…"

"Hey guys, what's taking you so long?" Cora greeted. 

Stiles shrieked and jumped in his seat. Flailing his arms about, he met Cora with a startled look. "Hey… you. Um, we were just talking. Didn't see you there."

"I told you she was…" Derek started. 

"Yea, but I didn't have time to process that information!" Stiles cut him off.

Cora opened the passenger side door before Derek made any attempt to leave the vehicle.

"It's alright, Derek. Everyone just thinks I'm greeting you. They have no idea. They're too busy talking amongst themselves."

Derek rested his clear green eyes on his little sister. He stepped out of the car and pulled her into a hug. His need to embrace and scent was stronger than his misplaced anxiety. 

"I know it's ridiculous. But it's been a long time since I've been around such a big pack."

Stiles met them on the curb and rubbed a hand over Derek's shoulder. 

"You're out of practice, that's all. I promise you'll like everyone. Well, Liam is a little high strung, Malia is very blunt, and Lydia is high maintenance and scary observant. But they're all good people."

Cora gave him such a stink eye that Stiles shrank away from her. "You're not helping."

"Guys, it's alright. I just… I don't want to do or say the wrong thing."

Stiles caressed Derek's stubbly jaw. "Aww, honey. I say the wrong thing all the time and they still love me."

The older wolf chuckled softly to himself. 

"Love is a strong word. Tolerate is more like it." Cora joked. 

"A treasure!" Stiles objected, pointing to himself. 

Derek was temporarily sidetracked by the little play fighting between his sister and mate. He snaked an arm around Stiles' shoulders and pulled him in closer. 

"With you, I can do anything. Lead the way."

Stiles tilted his chin up and smiled tentatively at him. "Are you sure, big guy?"

Derek pressed a kiss to Stiles' forehead and then pulled him toward the front porch. 

~

Cora jumped ahead of Derek and Stiles, opening the door for them and allowing them to walk in together. That gave Derek a little bit of comfort, being so close to his mate.

They rounded the corner into the living room and the crowd that gathered barely acknowledged their entrance. Everyone still talking in a few separate groups. Derek breathed a small sigh of relief.

The house was very nice and welcoming, and with all the people gathered around it reminded him of home. His true home and his old pack. Happy memories came flooding back to him. 

Scott turned toward the hallway, seeing the trio enter. His face lit up with a lopsided grin, and Derek realized why Stiles called him a puppy. It wasn't derogatory like he originally thought. It was a fairly accurate description. 

"Hey guys!" Scott started. "Everybody, let's get started. It looks like we're all here now."

Some of the group's attention went toward Derek, sensing the new smell no doubt. Now that they weren't distracted. 

"I want to welcome, Derek Hale. Cora's brother. Thank you for joining us. I hope we could build an alliance between our packs, especially since this is your land." 

Derek tipped his head in thanks. 

"I can't speak for my Alpha. But I'm sure my sister would be open to helping any pack who has been so good to our Cora." 

The Alpha puppy grinned at him. "That's awesome, man. Hopefully, we can all meet Laura soon."

Stiles steered Derek toward an empty armchair and led him to sit in it, while Stiles rested on the arm. Placing his hand on the back of Derek's neck for comfort. He didn't know how Stiles figured it out. Maybe the years of being around wolves, or perhaps a natural instinct of being a werewolf's mate. But Derek was grateful for it either way.

Everybody gathered and got comfortable on the couch as the Alpha started the meeting. Derek couldn't help but think that everyone there looked really young. But given that the pack only started within the 9 years after fire, and he wasn't aware of them in the territory, it shouldn't be a surprise. 

"I wanted to start by introducing everyone since we have a guest. It's only polite and there are so many of you. I'll start. I am the Alpha, Scott McCall." It was obvious the young man was not accustomed to introducing himself in such a formal way, given his shy smile, and slight blush as he spoke.

He continued to go around the room and Derek hoped to try and remember the names, and couplings as they were given. Creating a little memory game to help him along. 

The broody brunette standing next to Scott was his partner, Malia. He remembered because of how the couple look like complete opposites. They reminded him of those theater masks; comedy and tragedy. 

He was already familiar with the redhead sitting with his sister, Lydia. She was Stiles intellectual rival. He couldn't forget that story from their first night together. And just as Stiles mentioned, she did seem very observant, pretending to not see everything that was going on around her, but her sharp eyes gave her away. It made sense that she was a banshee. 

Next, the tall, curly haired, blond, Isaac, who stood with a confidence that seemed put on. Beside him, a handsome, tan skinned guy named Danny. He knew that might be difficult since he didn't automatically think Danny as a Hawaiian name. 

Then there was Corey and Mason, a sweet looking interracial couple. And last was an anxious looking blond puppy named Liam, and a strong willed brunette named Hayden. 

He found it slightly odd how everybody was paired off. Although that tended to happen in bigger packs. But, up until recently, Stiles was the odd man out. 

"Ok. Now that's out of the way. The first thing I want to talk about, I was hoping that you might be able to help us with Derek."

The older wolf glanced over at the Alpha hoping that his blank expression would distract from his anxious chemosignals. "I'll do what I can." Derek spoke strongly. Stiles discreetly massaged at his opposite shoulder, reminding him of his support. 

"Well, recently Stiles and Lydia performed a locating spell in order to help Malia find her parents." Scott glanced over at the broody were as if seeking approval from her. 

"I… was found in the woods when I was 9, and I was adopted but I have no memory of my real parents. So, when we did the locating spell it took us to your old home."

Derek's eyebrows pulled together at that. He found the prospect intriguing but worrisome. Could they be connected somehow?

"We were wondering if you may have some information that could help us." Scott offered. "Since you're older than Cora maybe you have a better memory for who was associated with your pack. Maybe some information that might be able to lead us to who Malia's parents are."

Derek pursed his lips, his gaze unfocused as he looked inward. "There were a lot of kids around the pack before… before… But I, it's hard thinking about it."

Stiles leaned into him to hold him in a side hug. Derek welcomed the weight of him. 

"Have you talked to Deaton?" Derek offered. 

Scott shuffled his feet as he stood. "He's the one who pointed us toward you."

"God, is he still cagey after all these years?"

Stiles tried very poorly to stifle sudden laughter. Scott cleared his throat. 

"He's done a lot for our pack." Scott defended.

Derek peered at him with inquisitive eyes. "As he did much for my family as well. But that doesn't change the fact that he's notoriously cagey. It makes him a good confidant, but sometimes a lousy source of information."

"That's what I said." Malia agreed. 

"Anyway, perhaps my Alpha would know. She was being trained by our mother, she probably knows more than she's told me."

"Kinda like Deaton." Stiles interjected. Now it was Derek trying to cover his laughter behind his fist. When Derek schooled his expression again, he backhanded Stiles in the thigh in retaliation. 

"When could we address your Alpha? I'm not accustomed to the formalities between packs." Scott tried to stand up straight and not show his novice despite admitting to it. 

"I'll make the introductions once she joins us in Beacon Hills. We have much to discuss with her. As long as that's ok with you, Alpha McCall."

Scott grinned from ear to ear. "She's coming here. Yea, that's fine! That's great!"

Derek could feel Stiles rolling his eyes beside him. 

The meeting continued with other minor intra-pack issues. Derek vaguely paid attention. His hand rested on Stiles' knee, thumb rubbing at the side in comforting circles. It helped ease what remained of his anxiety. 

"One last thing," Scott started. "New development, I'm still looking into it but it appears Chris Argent is back in town."

Derek whipped his head around to face the True Alpha. His eyes widened, nostrils flared. If anyone was paying attention, he's sure his anger and fear were off the charts. 

_Agent's back?_

"Rumor had it that Gerard is dead and he's settling his affairs. But we don't know if that means he intends to stay and what, if anything, he will do to the pack while he's here."

Stiles whimpered at the grip Derek had on his knee. Hearing this broke Derek out of his trance. But now everyone was looking at them. "Are you okay? I'm sorry." Derek smoothed a hand over the injured knee. Gazing up into Stiles eyes, pleading for forgiveness. 

"It's ok, Sexywolf. Just a little too tight."

"That's what he said." Mason chimed in. 

The group devolved into laughter. Except Derek. There was an Argent in Beacon Hills. This couldn't be good. 

"I'll ask the old man what he knows about Argent being back. I seriously hope the old bag really is dead. My dad should know." Stiles interjected. 

Once the meeting officially broke up, they distributed several boxes of pizza. Everybody ate casually in the living room, and to Derek's despair, they were all very keen on engaging him in conversation. Luckily, Stiles never strayed from his side. 

"So, you're Stiles secret boyfriend then? We were starting to think you weren't real." Isaac started with the barrage of questions and comments. 

"Speak for yourself. I'm happy for you, Stiles." Danny chimed in. "You deserve some happiness."

"See, that's why Danny's my favorite."

"Aside from Scott, you mean." Liam interjected. 

Isaac leaned forward over the back of the couch with a gleam in his eye. "I would think tall, dark, and handsome there would be your favourite."

"Isaac, maybe you want to reconsider all that jealousy. It's not a good smell on you, babe." Danny quipped. 

"Yea, speaking of tall, dark and handsome. You already got one of those, in case you forgot." Mason reminded him. 

"Me too." Corey added shyly. Mason smiled at him and rested a comforting hand on his thigh. 

Derek could hear Isaac lean toward Danny as the others talked over each other. "You know I'm just teasing Stiles. I didn't mean anything by it." The anxiety and insecurity smacked him in the face. He wondered how anyone missed it, or if it was so normal that they blocked it out.

"Just because everyone else teases Stiles doesn't mean you have to join in." Danny said to his beau. "He's been nothing but good and patient with you."

"I know. Like you." 

"Hopefully, I'm much better to you than he is." 

When Derek scented the rising arousal, he promptly tuned out their private conversation. Then he realized that Stiles was chatting about their first meeting to Corey, Mason and Hayden.

"We just talked and talked as he ate. And he didn't mind at all. Of course, we flirted a bit too. Then I accidentally spilled his water, and when I bent over to clean it up, he kissed me."

As the three young pack members cooed, Derek cleared his throat. Stiles glanced at him sideways, which didn't fill Derek with hope. 

"Then we watched the sunrise and exchanged numbers."

Hayden looked like she had literal heart eyes. "That sounds so romantic, you guys."

Derek was relieved that Stiles didn't spill the beans about what actually transpired. 

As the group began to talk over each other again, Stiles looked down at him and rolled his eyes. The older wolf felt silly that he thought his mate would give away such intimate details. But with how talkative Stiles is, it was an honest mistake.

All the couple energy in the room, had Derek feeling flirty. He slid Stiles off the arm of the chair and into his lap. It helped ground him even more in the room full of strangers, and also shut up some of those negative remarks implying Stiles was not as attractive as Derek. A two for one deal. 

Stiles brought a hand up to caress Derek's cheekbone. "Hey Cuddlewolf, how are you doing?"

"Better." Derek smiled up at him. 

Stiles stared down at him, running his fingers along one pulled up corner of his mouth, and Derek could hear his heartbeat speeding up. 

"One of these days you're gonna kill me with that smile." Stiles beamed. 

Derek tipped his head up and met Stiles lips with his, briefly. 

Of course the peanut gallery had to draw attention to it. The gathered group making loud "ohs" and "ahs".

"Gross, guys. That's my brother. Don't encourage them. They're disgustingly cute enough without all of you feeding into it."

Derek chuckled at Cora's reaction. "Thou dost protest too much." He replied. 

"No, I'm pretty sure I mean it." She fired back. 

Lydia flowed into the room to join the conversation. "I see the reunion went well. Already bickering like a normal family."

Lydia's manicured hand naturally slipped into Cora's, as if it belonged there. 

Cora straightened up. "I don't think I properly introduced you yet. Lydia Martin, this is my much older brother, Derek Hale."

Derek rolled his eyes at her. 

"Geez, you even roll your eyes the same way." Lydia teased. "It's nice to meet you, Derek. Cora was over the moon when she found out her siblings were still alive."

"Most of them." Derek corrected, somberly. 

Lydia glanced between the shared emotions on their faces. "I'm sorry."

"Our brother Alex didn't make it out." Cora admitted. 

Derek swallowed thickly. He could feel Stiles powerful eyes on him but he couldn't bring himself to meet them. He knew he needed to have this conversation with his mate, but he was seriously avoiding it and all the bad memories and feelings it dredged up. 

"Well, Derek." Lydia thankfully changed the topic quickly. "Cora tells me that you were the top of your class like I am. What's your specialty? Math is my best."

Derek smirked to himself. "I'm good with math, though I won't be winning any Field's medals anytime soon."

Lydia quirked her eyebrow at him. The corners of her mouth turned up and her scent turned pleasant and fond.

"Languages." Cora added. "He's always been a whiz. Last time I saw him, he was working on Russian. Right?"

"конечно. но с тех пор мне стало намного лучше." Derek replied.   
[ _Of course. But I got much better since then._ ]

Lydia's subtle smile grew bigger. "Well, Stiles you found someone who could properly pronounce your name." 

"Lydia?" Stiles warned.

Derek turned, about to ask Stiles what she meant, when he was overcome by the peppery scent of anger coming from his partner. He saw those golden brown eyes, rimmed with deep purple on the edges. The electricity of his spark boiling near the surface. He reached out and held Stiles' hand. As he stroked the knuckles with his thumb, he noticed the pepper smell dissipate into a more neutral, yet intense cinnamon. 

It appeared they both had something they kept from the other. 

 

***

 

Stiles drove Derek back to his loft. But once inside, Stiles was standoffish and didn't really move far from the door.

"So, how do you feel about your first pack meeting?"

Derek turned from removing his shoes by the coat rack. "It was… interesting. Your friends are a bit of an odd bunch."

Stiles sighed heavily. "You could say that again. It took us a long time to get here. But we've still got a long way to go before I would say that we're a team."

Derek walked back to where Stiles was standing awkwardly by the door and grabbed his hand. He coaxed the young man further into the loft, walking backwards to keep his eyes on him. They stopped near Derek's couch where he invited Stiles to sit with him. As soon as he sat down, Derek scooted over to be closer to him, hopefully minimizing their shared awkwardness. 

"There were some things that were addressed that I feel we need to talk about." Derek started. 

Stiles growled. "Damn Lydia, can't keep her mouth shut."

"What does this have to do…"

Stiles sat up, pulling his wallet out of my jeans. "I knew this would happen and I'm not crazy about it. And I mean, I know I could trust you to keep it on the DL. But whatever, it's only fair that if you're my boyfriend you know my real name. Although I never told anyone else before. Lydia just discovered, probably through hacking, though she would never admit to it."

Derek sat dumbstruck as Stiles plucked his Driver's license out of its hiding spot. He flicked his eyes between Stiles and the card as it was thrust into his hands. 

"Just… be gentle."

The older man finally looked down at the slip of plastic. "Mieczysław? That's your name?"

"Ok. To be fair, that actually sounds kind of sexy coming out of your mouth. And surprisingly the fact that you said it right on the first go is kind of a turn on."

"So that's your big secret?" Derek teased. 

Stiles guffawed, snatching the card back out of his hands and tucking it back in his wallet. "It's embarrassing. The people that hear it make fun of it, no one could say it right, not to mention it took me forever to learn it. I just ended up saying Mischief."

Leaning in, Derek let his warm breath tickle Stiles neck up to his jaw. Once he reached his ear, his whispered. "Mieczysław."

The spark shivered underneath him. 

"God, I should not to turned on by that. Not even a little."

Derek peered up at him through his eyelashes as he nosed along his jaw. "So, I could use it, right? When we're alone."

Stiles bit his lip and reluctantly nodded his head. "Ugh. I have a name kink for the name I hate. If that doesn't tell you how much I like you, nothing will."

Stopping just short of pulling his mate fully into his arms, Derek remembered what all he wanted to talk to Stiles about. His smile suddenly dropped from his face and and sat back a bit. Stiles, being the ever observant Spark that he is, immediately noticed the change. 

"What's wrong?"

Derek tried to take in a deep calming breath, but it stuttered on the exhale.

"There are some things I need to tell you about… about my past. I don't want to keep secrets from you. It's just… this is- its delicate. I've spent a long time getting past it. I'm not sure how I feel about bringing it up again."

It was Stiles' turn to offer comfort to his boyfriend. Shifting in the couch, he draped his legs over Derek's lap and wrapped his closest hand into both of his. 

"You don't have to talk about anything you're not comfortable with, Derek. That's why I didn't bring anything up. It's your story, I'm not gonna pry for details if you can't give them to me."

"I know." Derek swallowed. "But I can't keep something from you that could change your whole opinion of me. It's not fair."

Stiles brushed a hand along the side of Derek's head, toying with the hairline there. As much as Derek enjoyed the touch, he knew it wouldn't help him to speak his truth. It would only make it harder. 

"It couldn't…" Stiles stopped as Derek pulled away from his touch. 

"Why don't I just tell you before you decide what this could and couldn't do." Derek flashed his eyes at Stiles.   
"Do you know what my eyes mean?"

Stiles nodded mutely. "I don't hold it against you. We've all done bad things."

"Killing innocent people is not a bad thing, Stiles. It's unforgivable."

The waves of sadness and fear coming off his mate was disconcerting but he had to push through and address it later or he'd never get it all out. 

Derek got up from the couch and started pacing in front of Stiles he unloaded everything about his relationship with Paige. How he was forced to put her out of her misery after he had the stupid idea to give her the bite. He couldn't bare to look at Stiles, even smelling the sympathy and love coming from the younger man. 

Then he ploughed through his tears and launched into the story of Kate Argent and how she weaseled her way into Derek's life on the pretense that she was interested in him. She pulled information from him about the house layout and the family's schedules, that appeared to be in the interest of sneaking around to meet up with him without getting caught. 

But what she ended up using that information for was burning his whole family alive in an attempt at genocide of his species. 

Derek heard Stiles gasp and struggle for breath through his own tears a few times. But he continued to list all the people who perished in the fire. Naming everyone, including his aunts, uncles, cousins (born and unborn), grandparents, his younger brother, and lastly his parents. The guiding light of Derek's life.

"11 people. Half of them children. Some of them human. But they didn't care. Guilty by association, I guess." Derek spit out. "Peter was separated from the group, trying to find a way out, perhaps. He was clinging to life when Deaton got him out. But it was too late for everyone else. They all burned in the basement. It was meant to protect us, but it couldn't help against a fire set by magic. And with everything, all the pain, and suddenly gaining my mother's Alpha power, I almost lost Laura too."

Derek paused and broke down. Stiles jumped up from the sofa and flung his arms around Derek. They cried together. 

"Haven't you suffered enough, Derek? Please stop blaming yourself for what that sadistic bitch did to you. How she manipulated you when you were in mourning. Baby, this is not on you. This is not your fault."

Derek sniffled. "That's what Laura said."

"Well, she's right."

"But I killed Paige."

Stiles grabbed a hold of Derek's face, forcing him to look up. When their teary eyes met, Stiles finally spoke. "You showed her mercy. You were a kid in love, thinking that was the only way to be together. Derek, you didn't let her suffer through."

"But I knew the consequences. I knew it could happen."

"And beating yourself up over that choice instead of learning from it, isn't going to change anything." Stiles said firmly. 

"You don't know what that feels like though. Living with someone's death on your hands." Derek exclaimed. 

Stiles face fell. "Except, I do."

The wolf looked at his mate incredulously. At first he assumed that the young man was trying to condescend to him, in some misguided attempt to make him feel better. But the pain and sadness in his scent spoke volumes. 

"Before I could get a handle on my power, I became possessed by an ancient spirit. I terrorized this town. Because of me, Allison Argent was killed. I know you have no love for them, but Allison was… she was my friend, a good friend. She was Scott's girlfriend. She was a sister to Lydia." Stiles stopped to catch his breath. "The anguish I felt losing my mother paled in comparison to what I did when I was the Nogitsune."

"Nogitsune?" Derek sighed. "Shit."

Once they calmed a bit, Stiles pulled them over to the bed. He sat Derek down on the foot of the bed and helped him remove his jeans before removing his own. 

"So you don't hate me? I was so afraid you would hate me." Derek confessed. 

Stiles cupped the wolf's face in his hands, guiding him to meet his gaze. "I couldn't hate you for this, Derek."

"Then you can't hate yourself either." Derek countered. 

The spark paused, no doubt analyzing the logic. "It's different when it's about yourself."

"It shouldn't be. You weren't in control."

"Neither were you. Our decisions were made by other people." Stiles reasoned. "Yet _we_ faced the consequences."

Derek became quiet. He allowed Stiles to guide him back to lay on the bed. Allowed the young man to curl up next to him. 

"Stiles…"

"Shhh. I'm here. Get some sleep. I'm sure you're exhausted." He gazed into his favorite green eyes as he continued. "It'll all be better in the morning. Then all of this will be left in the past where it belongs."

Stiles slid his lips feather light against Derek's beautiful mouth. 

It wasn't long after Derek's head hit the pillow that the werewolf was asleep.

The young spark watched his lover. The worry lines on his face gone now. He was peaceful in his sleep. 

A thought popped into Stiles head and he acted on it before he could think better of it. He gingerly got up from the bed, and pulled his and Derek's cell phones from their jeans. Thoughtfully, he plugged Derek's in to charge. 

On his own phone, he found the video on YouTube and sent the link. Setting his phone next to Derek's, he crawled back into bed, cuddling his head against the werewolf's broad chest. He could hear his melodic heartbeat as he drifted off to sleep and wondered if the video would be well received. It was kinda cheesy. But Stiles was a cheesy kind of guy. 

 

****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you think the video is that Stiles sends to Derek? Place your bets!
> 
> Of course, I can't confirm it until I post the next chapter, but it might be fun to play.


	7. Chapter Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Derek comes clean. Stiles confronts the inevitable. And a weird encounter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are again, friends!
> 
> Another chapter!
> 
> I'm not sure if I'm doing 9 or 10, but it will include an epilogue. So, expect about 2 or 3 more. 
> 
> I'm kinda sad to see it come to an end. But excited because I have another story. I didn't want to start uploading two things simultaneously because it just doesn't feel right for me. I don't want to actively write two things at once, although I have written some of it already. 
> 
> Enjoy! ❤

****

The first deep inhale of wakefulness gave way to the recognition of the sunlight filtering bright rays into the room. Then slowly every muscle is felt and aware, followed by the involuntary stretch to slough off the former sleep. 

Derek carefully opened his eyes to the onslaught of the morning sun. He was fully aware of the warmth, the scent and sound of his lightly snoring mate. It was difficult to find it annoying when all of Stiles' quirks thus far have been downright adorable. Including the little puddle of drool he left on the pillow. 

Knowing his lover was still very much asleep, he tried to continue waking as quietly as possible. 

He reflexively reached over to his phone on the nightstand to check the time. Once it was in hand, he was surprised to find it, realizing he hadn't put it there last night. He was too emotionally exhausted to do anything but fall into a deep sleep. Smiling over at his mate when he saw that the phone was plugged in to charge. 

Derek checked the time and noticed he had notifications. He wasn't sure who they could be from, since Stiles is next to him and his sister only really calls him. She wasn't a fan of having her words flattened out, and void of all emphasis and emotion. She didn't like her intent to be misconstrued. Laura was such an Alpha in everything she did. 

When Derek pulled up the notification, he saw it was from WhatsApp. His conversation with Stiles. He chuckled quietly to himself. Opening the chat window, he immediately saw the link to a music video. He had to put a hand over his mouth to keep from laughing. It was so cheesy. It had Stiles written all over it. 

"Backstreet Boys? Really, Stiles?" He mumbled to himself. 

As he tapped to exit the window, he accidentally opened the link and an ad started playing loudly. 

"Shit." He muttered, as he heard Stiles heartbeat pick up and breath stutter. 

Well, he was already awake now. Might as well continue watching the little present Stiles bestowed upon him the night before. 

When the music started, Stiles let out a sleepy laugh next to him. "So cheesy, sorry." He mumbled into the pillow

Derek watched and listened, laughing at first but then his breath caught as he was confronted by the actual words and Stiles bright sunny scent. 

**_  
...And how you got me blind is still a mystery  
I can't get you out of my head  
Don't care what is written in your history  
As long as you're here with me_ **

**_I don't care who you are  
Where you're from  
What you did  
As long as you love me_ **

By the time the video and song was over, the wolf was in tears. It struck him that the lyrics perfectly illustrated their relationship. And he remembered another truth that he neglected to tell Stiles. 

"Be gentle. How did you.." Stiles started, blinking up at the older man. He gasped, seeing him overcome with emotion. "Oh…"

Before he could say anything else, Derek was on him, raining down kisses on every bit of unclothed flesh he could reach. 

Stiles giggled at the attention. "I guess you approve."

Derek pulled back just enough to look into those golden brown eyes. The younger man was struck by the open adoration he saw, blinking to make sure it was wasn't a trick on the light.

"I really think I do."

Stiles thought that he was responding to the comment he had just made. But as he continued to gaze at him like he was the most precious thing on the face of the earth, it clicked. 

"What?" Stiles froze. 

"I'm not expecting you to say anything. I know it's still new and it's kind of sudden. But that's how I feel." Derek beamed.

Stiles blinked. "How…?"

Slowly Derek started to pull away. His expression meant to seem neutral but Stiles could tell he was affected. 

"Hey, no. Don't you hide from me, Derek."

The wolf backed up against the headboard and Stiles followed him.

He glanced up at Stiles for a moment before deflating and quickly spewing it out. "You're my mate."

Stiles sat back, in shock. "How - how do you know? How long have you known?"

Derek answered without hesitation. "When I first met you. I knew immediately. My Wolf's instinct was to claim, protect, and provide. I've never had such a strong reaction like that to anyone upon first meeting them."

They sat there for a moment in silence. Or at least silence for Stiles. For Derek, Stiles emotions were screaming at him through his weird scent concoction of awe, fear, happiness, anxiety, and excitement. 

"I know it's too soon. But I'm not expecting any commitments. I just want you to know I've quit my job." Stiles gasped. "Laura's packing my things and sending them to me. She's actually flying in too, to meet you and everyone. I didn't tell her about Cora yet. I want it to be a surprise. I'm staying here. I'm going to live here. I'd rather not do the long distance thing with you anymore. What do you think?"

The spark gaped at the older man. He never expected a Stiles-esque rant to fall from that perfect mouth. 

"Derek you can't just drop your life for me. Quit your job. Move everything. Leave your sister. You barely know me. I can't ask you to do that."

The wolf shied away from his gaze a bit. "You're not asking me. I didn't have much of a life before. I only worked that job to help me figure out my next steps. I'm done hiding from the world. And once Laura knows the Cora's alive, I wouldn't doubt she would drop everything and move back too."

Stiles turned toward Derek, stronger and with purpose. "What would you do for work?"

The wolf snorted. 

"Stiles, I don't need to work. I only worked to keep me from being bored." 

He reached out tentatively for one of Stiles' hands. The spark gladly gave it to him without much thought. Still taken aback by the confession. 

"Maybe I'll finally start writing and translating."

Derek noticed a change in scent as the younger man looked down at their entwined hands, finally realizing that he did that. This scent made Derek growl lowly in his throat. He didn't like it. 

"I don't think I'm - I don't know if…"

"You're worth it." Derek snapped. "I feel like I'm alive again, thanks to you. I've met my mate. My little sister is alive. It's nice to feel like… like I'm not passing time before I die anymore."

Stiles peered up at him then. A sadness in his eyes, but also what appeared to be the beginning of hope. Derek held his beautiful pale face in his hands.

"I'll be here now. We'll have time to sort this all out." Derek sighed. "I look forward to it."

The smile that formed then told Derek that everything might actually be okay now. 

 

***

 

Waltzing into the sheriff's station, Stiles gave a jaunty salute to the deputy at the front desk. Tara rolled her eyes but gave a small affectionate smile as she greeted him.

By the lack of hustle and bustle in the station, he could tell it was slow crime day. Then he mentally reminded himself to knock on wood the first chance he got. The sheriff's door. Sure, it was made of wood but he never really knocked on his dad's door. Because, well, he's his dad.

Oh well, first time for everything. Stiles gave the door a little tap and opened it before he could get a response. A nice compromise.

"Hey, daddio!"

Sheriff Noah Stilinski looked up from his paperwork, an annoyed look on his face but a smirk curling at his lips. He closed an open file on his desk and huffed as if it pained him to do so.

"What do you want, Stiles?" Exasperation clear in his voice. 

Stiles balked at the older man. His arms flailed as he talked. 

"What, I can't come to see my own father?"

The sheriff looked on, unimpressed. He leaned back into his chair crossing his arms over his chest.

"Fine." Stiles caved. "I was wondering…"

Raising hand, Noah stopped him. " I can't talk about an open investigation."

"I would never! I'm shocked that you would think that. This would probably be more confirming something that's already known. I know that Chris Argent has been hanging around, back in town. I'm just wondering…"

"Get to the point." Noah sighed.

Stiles blurted out. "Is Gerard Argent dead?"

The sheriff took a deep breath and leaned forward, resting his arms on the desk. "As far as I have heard, yes. And surprisingly, doesn't seem suspicious. Normal died at home type of thing."

Stiles deflated a bit, as he plopped back onto his dad's couch. Part of him was relieved to hear that the old bastard died. Another part of him, a darker part, one he tried desperately to squelch, was upset that he didn't die more tragically. Maybe a little bit of torture.

"Well shit, that's one less person I have to watch out for. Thanks."

He moved to get up when he heard it. The tone. The very fatherly knowing tone that every child of any age dreaded.

"Stiles?"

He swallowed the growing lump in his throat. He knew this couldn't be good. 

"Yep?" 

Stiles tried for a lighter tone himself. Hoping that it would make this a little easier if he held onto positivity. It's the new leaf, he was testing it out. 

"So when am I gonna meet the new boyfriend?"

"Wha - who told you?!" Stiles sputtered out without a second thought. 

Noah raised his eyebrows at his son. 

Stiles slumped back onto the couch. "I just did, didn't I?" 

"Yep."

"Fuck."

"Language!"

Stiles, affronted, pointed his thumbs at himself. "Adult."

"Technically."

"Still an adult."

The sheriff sighed. "Like I wouldn't be able to tell with how little time you've been spending at home. I know we both work odd hours but I can tell when your bed's been slept in and even it hasn't. I'm actually kind of relieved it is a boyfriend and not something more serious."

"So that means you'll take it easy on him?" Stiles hoped. 

"Absolutely not. When do I meet him?"

Stiles scrubbed a hand down his face. "Soon. But promise me something."

Noah tilted his head as if to consider the request. "Maybe."

"Just cool it with 'the talk'."

"I know not of what you speak." The sheriff reached his mug of coffee. 

"The gun and shovel talk. Please just tone it down."

He stopped the mug in his hand just before it touched his lips. "Why? What has he done?"

Stiles bristled under his father's searching eyes. But nonetheless he continued. "He's… he's Derek Hale."

"Derek Hale?" Noah seemed to roll the name around on his tongue. "Hale? Beacon Hills Hale?"

Stiles nodded. 

The sheriff took a small sip of his coffee before setting the cup back down. His eyes unfocused and introspective. 

"He's back in town, huh?"

"He has been actually. Splits his time between here and New York. But he's here for good now."

Stiles smiled to himself as his mind wandering to jade green eyes and bunny teeth and permanent 5 o'clock shadow. He peered up at his father, not realizing he had looked away.

The sheriff quirked an eyebrow at him. His reminiscing obviously not evading his scrutiny.

"I'll tone it down." Noah agreed. "But it's my duty as a father to talk to him, man to man."

"I would expect nothing less." Stiles admitted. 

"What are you doing tomorrow?" 

Stiles leaned forward to think. "Picking his sister up at the airport in the morning."

"Laura?"

Stiles nodded. 

"Well, I work late but I can do lunch." Noah replied. 

"I'll see if we can get away once we have her and her husband settled."

"Alright." Noah clapped his hands together, finalizing their plans. "Let him know that he can't back out."

"Don't worry, he won't."

"Good."

Stiles stood up from the couch and took a deep breath. It wasn't as bad as he thought. Could've been worse. Maybe this new leaf isn't half bad. 

"I'll see ya tomorrow then. Bye, pops."

 

***

 

Derek walked from the convenience store with a jingle of the bell. A plastic bag full of snacks for Stiles wrapped around his hand. He figured he might as well stock up while he was getting his gas. 

Unlocking the big black Escalade rental, he opened the door and tossed the bag to the passenger seat. Closing the door again, he walked back to the pump and began topping the tank. 

He looked around, checking his surroundings as the numbers ticked by. 

A red SUV pulled in and backed into the spot in front of his rental. Derek gave it a cursory look before turning back to the pump display. 

As he neared the dollar mark that he paid for, he smelled a smell that he would not soon forget. Cordite. Leather. Pine. And citrus. Argent. Chris Argent to be exact. 

He made eye contact as the owner of the red SUV jumped out. 

"What are you doing here, Argent?" Derek snarled. He couldn't help himself. It was his knee jerk reaction when faced with an Argent. 

"Derek? What are you doing here?" Chris smelled mildly surprised.

"I asked first."

Chris glanced away for a moment. He had the good sense to look ashamed, as his clear blue eyes focused on him again. 

"Gerard's dead. I've been clearing out his things. 

Derek scoffed. "You're not actually upset that the monster croaked, are you?"

He couldn't quite pick out the myriad of emotions that Agent's scent gave out. But he clearly pegged guilt. 

"No." Chris replied. "I plan to piss on his grave every chance I get. It's.. some things have come to light that I'm still trying to come to terms with."

Derek blinked at him, utterly confused. Did he finally find out the full scope of atrocities that Gerard committed? Was he finally confronted with the things that he tried to deny or avoid?

"I know it'll never be enough, but… I am truly sorry for everything you've had to endure because of that man." Chris rubbed at his hands nervously. "I just wanted you to know that."

He looked up at Derek briefly. The sadness clear in his blue eyes. It seemed like he wanted to say something else, but he quickly moved toward the convenient entrance, leaving Derek at the pump, dumbstruck. 

Derek quickly finished and retreated before he was subjected to another awkward conversation with the man. 

 

****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had the thought of using The Backstreet Boys "As Long As you Love me" right in the beginning when I started fleshing out the story. I thought it was too silly, but then I realized how perfect it was for them, especially. 
> 
> What do you think?! ❤
> 
> I hope you like reading it as much as I like writing it :)


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